Within Three Years
by NekoXyN
Summary: Yukari has bid farewell as Naruto takes his first time-jump leave of 3 years. Her life that takes place during these 3 years is anything but the bore she thought it would be without Naruto in the Village.
1. Scroll 1

_**Within Three Years**_

_This takes place during the first Naruto time-jump of three years. It's been ¾ of a year since Naruto left with Jiraiya to train. Please refer to the story: 'Training for the Job' for more awesome story plot!_

_**Scroll 1: Enter the Child Trio**_

The trio of kids saw the village in the distance and moved towards it. They had been walking for quite a while, and were feeling very hungry. To any of the people guarding the village walls, or scouting outside, they would see what looked like three children walking towards the village in a squiggly line. One child, located in the middle, looked like a normal ninja, with the exception of a unicycle on her back.

The child on her left looked like something out of a nightmare. His head sported a spiked helmet with holes for his ears and face. How this head-engulfing gear became welded on was a mystery. Another surprising thing when one might view him was the chains that wrapped thickly around him, disappearing into his pants and shirt sleeves. The young kid had nothing but chains covering his skinny torso.

The kid on her right looked, as most would say; too cute. His eyes were wide, his smile bright and his clothing; colorful. He had a large teddy bear strapped onto his back, a smaller one on his waist, and also grasped a stuffed turtle. It would drag along in the dirt behind him. None of the children wore headbands, so it was impossible to identify where they were from by sight alone.

The three children got close to the village walls and stopped, looking up at it. Upon closer inspection, they looked a little scuffed up and dirty, and the one with chains looked androgynous. They took a few steps back then turned towards each other in a huddle, muttering amongst them selves. The trio, looking to be about eight or nine, separated; looking back and forth between each other still. Then the girl in the middle stepped forward, cupping her hands to her mouth and shouted.

"Hello? Is anybody there?"

"Hm? What's up with you three squirts?" the bandanna-ed brown-haired jounin, Genma, spoke through his long senbon toothpick and looked over to the trio of ratty look kids with mild interest. "You can enter here, like the normal people and stop at that booth there to register for any meetings you might want…or are you lost?"

They blinked and just shrugged, huddling closer together with uncertainty. They walked, shoulder to shoulder, into the village. They quickened their steps and walked past Genma, as though wanting to avoid contact with him. The trio skirted inside and moved looked around, slightly in awe at the size of the village and its appearance. Any passerby could tell, even if only from the looks on their faces, that they weren't from around here. They wondered for a few minutes what to do.

XXX

Elsewhere in the village, Kakashi Hatake looked up from his latest copy of 'Icha-Icha Paradise', getting a feeling that something just wasn't right. He lowered his book to turn his uncovered eye towards the female that was moving in the training field before him. The Lady Hokage had given advice to have him train another genin while his original squad; one consisting of Sakura Haruno and Naruto Uzumaki were gone.

Team 13 had been used and betrayed by their self-serving sensei, Jamaru Akanchi. The surviving genin of team 13 was a red-eyed, raven-black haired kunoichi of age 14. That black-haired kunoichi, known to younger ninjas as Uzaruki-san, finally gave a last series of maneuvers to the old, worn out log that stood upright in the battered down grass.

Yukari Uzaruki was her proper name, third child to the dwindling Uzaruki clan. She may have looked like any other black-haired kunoichi (female ninja), but when one looked into her eyes, they might mistake her for an Uchiha. It was a shame that the Uchiha Clan sucked and wiped themselves out. No, she was better than an Uchiha; with a lot more class and elegance.

She was one of the few remaining carriers of the bloodline limit known as Akashingan; or the Red Bird Wheel. A life-long set of red-colored eyes gave her the power to see the world from an aerial point of view using birds. It didn't matter if the bird was in flight or sitting on her very own head, she still got bird-o-vision, as her best friend bluntly put it.

That friend, namely Naruto Uzumaki, was a thorn of self-improvement to her. Being a friend and rival to a ninja that drove her to go beyond the normal limits and to strive to be exceptionally strong was why she was nearly killing herself with relentless training.

Well, it was a figure of speech; as she was hardly anywhere near death. But since Naruto had left eight months ago to train with the legendary sannin, Jiraiya-sama; Yukari figured she would do her own rigorous training that would help her grow stronger.

Today was particularly harsh, since her week-long, B-class paying mission to the Land of the Tea had ended at midnight the previous night. The Lady Hokage had sent a squad of hand-picked ninja to infiltrate and break-down the so called village of Sneeze. The self-created village of rouge ninja had risen up to pester the land of Tea.

The Lady Hokage would have none of it and promptly decided to send aid to their Tea allies to care of the pesky problem, before it got out of hand. Yukari was one of the two chuunin, or basic level ninja, to tag along for the mission. The other ninja were jounin or higher, and their basic skills were honed sharper than hers. Yukari didn't care, however, as her growing tracking and trapping skills helped pin in the enemy ninja as the Konohagakure squad methodically broke their efforts and arrested the offending ninja.

Kakashi, her new sensei, had been most helpful in training her in the basic ways of genjutsu, a subject of which she severely lacking talent in. Thanks to a quick lesson in the art of genjutsu, or illusion art, Yukari was able to see through an escape attempt and stopped those that tried to run off.

Not that the Sneeze Ninja posed that much of a personal threat; the leader of the Sneeze Village had quickly been identified and captured, but Yukari didn't want to be the ninja that failed her part of the mission. She was, after all, aiming to become an elite trapper.

Having interacted with the Hatake ninja during the mission, Yukari had found herself developing a crush on the aloof, lazy-like silver-haired Shinobi. Part of the reason was he was the ideal sensei she never had, another part was his aloofness; it hit deep into her sense of erotic taste. A powerful, carefree ninja like Hatake-sensei was not only physically handsome, but having a kind and lack-a-daisy attitude towards life was enough to heat her blood.

So it was a surprise when she found him sitting on a nearby stump; half reading his normal 'Icha-Icha Paradise' book and half watching her. He looked up from whatever page he had been reading to smile at her.

"Eh? What's wrong, Kakashi-sensei?" Yukari asked; fighting the rising blush that raced to her cheeks.

"Oh, nothing; I was just thinking of something a moment. What are you up to? Don't have anything better to do than watch me read?" He asked, looking over to her with his lazy, uncovered left eye, the book still open in his hands. Not waiting for an answer from the young kunoichi, the copy-cat ninja jumped down next to her and looked around, getting a sense of the surrounding environ - searching.

"Yukari-chan, don't you have gate-sentry duty this afternoon? Or have I gotten so into my reading that a day has already passed?"

Yukari's mouth dropped open as her face turned red at the proximity of the male Nin. It wasn't that much of a secret that the Sharingan ninja and the energetic female Uzaruki heir had something between each-other; and had it ever since after the Sand-Sound War. But, by stating that she was watching HIM, implied many things.

"I…I was training here FIRST, Kakashi-sensei...you where watching ME train, and no, Tsunade-sama made Genma-sensei take sentry duty since he wasn't one of the ones who took down the Sneeze-Village…" She stuttered out. But now that she thought about it, it was getting pretty late in the day and she was meant to take that cramped little scout building near the Konoha entrance two days after the Sneeze-Village Bust. "Well, I guess I have sentry tomorrow, though…"

Kakashi laughed and reached over a hand to ruffle Yukari's raven-black hair.

"You are so easy to mess with Yukari-chan. You make things so much fun. Well, I have something that I must be getting to for now. Why don't you take sentry duty early so we can spend tomorrow together?" His face-mask was still on but you could tell that he was smiling under it, even if it was unable to be seen.

"I guess so; I'll give myself an hour's rest then take the graveyard shift…" Yukari was still beet-red in the face as she began her tone-down stretches to calm her heart down.

Kakashi waved to Yukari as he jumped off into the distance, taking a round-about route and entering Tsunade's office. As he closed the door he started talking to her about 'news on the strange activity.'

XXX

Yukari smiled as Kakashi left and made her way to the Kenkon district of Konoha. The place where her beloved apartment was located, the Kenkon, was like a mini-type neighborhood of farmers and craftsmen that plied their trade in and outside of the Hidden Leaf Village.

Yukari herself had very little money to her own name when she was forced to move out on her own after her clan was decimated during the Sand-Sound Invasion. Her clan; numbering in the fifties, was murdered until only a handful were left. Not only did it hurt like hell, but it was her father that ordered her to move to a different location; preventing the extinction of her clan should some one come back to finish the job. But that was nearly a solid one and two quarter years ago, back before Sarutobi-Hokage passed away.

The Kenkon had taken heavy damage, and the room that was previously her sister's, Raikanami, was demolished – in no thanks to some rampaging psycho, village-sized snake…or so she was told.

It had since been rebuilt, even with her help (she was listed as injured, but she was well-befriended to the nice peoples of the Kenkon District, so she helped as much as she could) and had her living in it again. Yukari was enjoying the evening as passers-by made small talk and such; as was a village is wont to do. However, the entrance was only in her sight once as the red-eyed Kunoichi crossed the village to get to her destination. So she didn't think much of the raga-muffin children that stood in the shadows of a nearby ramen joint (not Ichiraku).

The ragamuffin kids stared around and then turned as a single unit to the delicious smell of ramen. In turning, they all saw Yukari passing by. More importantly, they saw her eyes which closely resembled those of an Uchiha; horrible, red eyes that brought to each of them, different memories – memories that were all terrible. The girl was a little frozen with fear, as sounds of insane cackling and destruction ran through her head. Images flashed through her mind, back to the night her village was attacked, and nearly destroyed, by a single person.

The kid wearing chain's lips started to curl back in a snarl as sounds of dripping; memories of total silence came to mind. Days on end where it hung by thread like chains, in pain and crying, as the man stared and did nothing but smile and make things worse. The Cute mini-Nin's thoughts were mixed. The eyes brought to him memories of horrible change, at first gut-wrenchingly painful but soon after, and led him to where he was standing, which was a very good thing.

XXX

Unless Yukari was paying attention to them, she wouldn't have noticed anything until the chained-kid growled and tried to leap at her. The kid didn't get very far before the Cute-kid grabbed the other by the shoulders and swung the body in a circle into the ground. From anybody else's point of view, it might look like they were wrestling. That is, if nobody had been watching the first child leap towards Yukari. Then, things might be a little more sinister than they really were.

Only the nearby Ramen cook paid any attention; as due to the size of incoming-outgoing traffic for Konoha, it was near impossible for a normal person to look at every single person that walked near the simple, yet bold entrance. That's why the second Hokage trained the ninja to sense by chakra; making it easier for the entrance to be monitored.

"Hey, are you kids gonna buy my ramen or not? If not, you better scram and go find your parents before you scare away the good-paying customers…" The pot-bellied man wasn't mean or threatening; he spoke frankly and matter-of-factly, is if the kids would know what he was talking about.

Life around the entrance was busy; as Yukari was already gone by the time the Cute-kid had pulled the Chain-kid back from jumping her down. Genma had already dismissed the trio and was back to watching the entrance. They only thing that made any show of being overly disturbed was a splotchy white and pepper-black cat that had leapt down from the opposing roof and hissed at the wrestling kids before running away, down the path that Yukari had just used.

They calmed down quickly enough, as the two rolled into the side of a nearby building. In their rage they hadn't done anything that involved more than the most basic chakra. The girl then quickly walked over to the two of them and knelt down, grabbing both of their ears and lifting them up.

"Calm down! That wasn't him! It couldn't be! He was too busy when we left; there was no way he could know where we are! Nobody does, so both of you stop it!" she said with a smack to both their cheeks. They didn't like it, but knew she was only being nice. The Cute-kid spoke up, even his voice pumped full of candy and sunshine.

"But maybe she knows something. Her eyes were kinda the same. Should we follow her?" The Chain-kid just shrugged, already falling back into a stony-faced silence. The girl sighed, taking the lead as always. They looked around to get their bearings and turned down the path that Yukari had moved down, trying to catch up to her enough to keep her in sight.

Yukari only took about two minutes to get from Team 7's old training grounds to her place, so it wasn't that big a deal when she got there, and unlocked her purple – yes, she had a thing for purple – door and slid a bowl of water out; more like around the entrance wall, with her black-sandaled foot. She then untied her Leaf Nin band from around her waist and hung it up on a peg next to the door.

"Ugh, I bet I stink, I wonder if Kiba-kun's nose is still sensitive enough to smell me from where-ever he is, ha-ha!" she laughed aloud as that salt and pepper-black cat slid – yes slid - like water through her open window.

"You are such a laze, Meko-chan, talk about ninken. Did you catch any birdies today besides me! Ha, ha!"

The cat had adopted her after Yukari was healed by the Lady Hokage the very day she came into office. Yukari had not the heart to use the effort to force it away, so it stayed. Yukari then crossed her small, couch-filled 'living' room and made her way to the stove. A newer version after snake-smashing rampage; and set some water to make herbal tea.

XXX

The trio of odd-looking kids stopped when they saw her go into the house and huddled together once more. There was a minute of silence as they listened, then they spoke quietly amongst themselves.

"Well…should we see if she's even that strong? If we can beat her it would be pointless to hang around her. What do you guys think?" The Chain-kid shrugged, but the Cute-kid shook his head fervently.

"No, that'd be bad. Besides, this is supposed to be the place we've been looking for right? The person…Naruga-dono something, is supposed to live here. He should be able to help us a little. I'll try and get in." He waited until they nodded, and then turned and walked towards Yukari's apartment.

There was a poof, and then where he had been was nothing more than a little 7-inch tall teddy bear walking. It got a running start, and then leapt onto a windowsill and looked inside, watching Yukari's back.


	2. Scroll 2

_**Scroll 2: Teddy-bears, Chains & Wheels**_

Tsunade nodded to Kakashi.

"If you think so; we will give her a few days of rest before sending her out with you. In the mean time I will pick a few others that would be best suited for this type of mission. Inform her of these plans. Come back in a few days."

With that, Kakashi nodded and left, jumping along the rooftops towards Yukari's house. As he neared, he spotted the thing sitting on her windowsill and shrugged, knocking on her door.

"Yukari-chan, are you in?"

A loud MREEOOOOWWW was heard as Kakashi knocked on the door and it opened to show Yukari trying to shut Meko up as she was drying her hair. Yukari, of course, has already cleaned and clothed, but it seems that the obnoxious cat had found a new plaything, the poor stuffed teddy-bear.

"MEKO-chan, geez, calm down, would you? It's just a toy, probably something a kid threw up here to annoy me, like they love to do…oh, hi Kakashi-sensei, what's up?"

"Nothing at the moment, I hope I am not interrupting anything?" He continued on anyway. "I came to tell you that we will be going out in a few days on a mission. It would be tomorrow, but Tsunade-sama feels you should have a few days rest while I gather more information. What is Meko do-…ing?" He held up his hand for Yukari to be silent as he stared at the teddy bear it was batting around.

"!" Yukari nodded once, silently and let her right arm drop to her side. Here is where her specialty lay; hidden to normal eyes of the public, yet deadly to opposing ninja. Her hair; strands of her hair filled with chakra and numerous strands grew to impossible lengths as she sent a few to twirl, as always, silently around her kunai in her leg pack. Within seconds, and like using an extending arm, the red-eyed girl had a sharp kunai in her right hand.

Noticing that they were staring at him, the teddy bear shoved the cat off and ran off towards the bedroom. As fast as it could anyway; as it stumbled over a few things on its way. Kakashi followed it into the room and grabbed at it, lifting the struggling thing into the air. The teddy bear flailed its hands and arms, before stopping and holding its hands over its eyes, curling into a ball.

"Well would you look at that. Have you seen this before Yukari-chan?" From the tone of his voice he found it more amusing than anything else.

Yukari's eyebrows would lift in shocked astonishment as the five-second chase scene played out. Kakashi was so cool as always, yet the bear…moving on its own was just too weird.

"Uh…not really…I thought it was a kid's toy…one of the several that often get the luck to grace my window…it's a local kids game I guess…but nothing that moved…on its own. Is this some sort of ninja attempt on Konoha or something?" Leave it to Yukari to spice things up with words. However, Meko was having none of it and if looked for, was hiding atop the refrigerator from being startled.

"Maybe it's a puppet…I know the Kazekage's ninja brother had a few…"

The little bear stretched, put its nubbly hands along the length of Kakashi's thumb and cocked its head back. Followed by this motion was a hiss that sounded like something between a snake rearing to attack and a cat defending itself. The hiss accompanied a ripping noise along the Teddy's smiley mouth, as it opened wide and fangs grew out of it. It chomped down on Kakashi's hand, causing him to grip it tighter and shake the thing.

"Ow! Nasty little creature isn't. I…" He shoved Yukari to the side as a bunch of chains burst through the wall to wrap around Kakashi's limbs, paralyzing and holding him in place.

Yukari's Akashingan-dormant red eyes went wide as she took the momentum of Kakashi's push and leapt away from her current location, giving an awkward squawk-shout as the chains busted her lovely windowed-wall.

"WHAT THE CRAP!" She ignored the hell-noisy Meko and dug her hands, kunai included, into her momentarily short hair. Within seconds, she was the replica of some story-tale witch, who had incredibly long hair. Her hands were full with chakra-rich strands, which were ready to be launched into virtually any wire-trap known to the Leaf Shinobi.

"You just better cut the crap, if you're in this village to start trouble…no doubt the ANBU will catch onto this fairly fast…so just show yourselves!"

Yukari didn't know who or what the attackers were or what their plans were; but busting through her apartment walls with chains to threaten her sensei was enough to send Yukari into a semi-pissed battle mode.

The chains did little more than shake Kakashi into doing a jutsu, causing him to drop the Teddy bear in the process. The teddy bear turned back into the little kid and jumped into the air. As he did so, the chains unwrapped from Kakashi and wrapped back around the little kid. Even in the middle of what felt like a major fight, he was a living example of the word 'cute.'

As the chains yanked him back through the wall, he pulled Yukari's Naruto-plushie with him. As the wall came through, the 'attackers' could be seen briefly. The chained one was standing on the shoulders of the girl, whose feet were balanced on a large unicycle (the tire being about 4ft wide). As soon as the Cute-nin was out of Yukari's house, they took off at a run. Kakashi chased after them, motioning for her to follow alongside him.

Those red eyes still were wide with mild shock, as the scene took place. Then they narrowed dangerously as she saw her property being shang-hijacked.

"OOH NO YOU DIDN'T! You raggedy punks…I MADE THAT!" And off she went, sparing a split second of surprise as she registered the gapping new exit the wall had; but not losing a beat of movement as she caught up with the silver-haired jounin sensei of her best friend.

"Kakashi-sensei, is this some sort of sick joke? Those aren't adult ninjas…they're genin…and one of them yanked my property!"

"I don't think so. Something's not right about those kids. They're smart, kind and inexperienced, but they're after something. Actually Yukari, I think they're more jounin level…" He slowed down severely; just now becoming aware of wounds around his ankles. Instantly, a medical Ninja appeared at his side.

Chasing the trio of attackers, Yukari could see masked ANBU closing in from all sides. The unicycle trio stopped; and anyone near could sense a lot of chakra being gathered to be used. The girl was facing away, but the other two were facing towards Yukari's general direction.

The child in chains looked like an animal that was backed into a corner. The cute one just had an awkward frown on its face. Something about them gave off a vibe of 'not right in the head.'

"Erk…" Yukari slowed down as well, seeing the ANBU show up, and, as always, a twitch of sad pain flickered deep in her heart. She still felt the loss of her brother's teammate, and her friend, Maso.

Kabuto had killed Maso to masquerade as years ago, during the Chuunin Exams that Naruto had taken part in. Shaking her head, Yukari also knew that her own brother, Kensuke, was not among this pack of ANBU. It mattered little, as she allowed herself to fall towards to back, as she was only Chuunin. If ANBU showed up, you'd better let them do their job. But she was fully stymied, as she kept along side Kakashi, wondering if she would need to do anything for the next move.

Her eyes still worked on; however, as she used her good common ninja sense to take in that people were moving pointedly away from the general area, giving the ninjas involved room to work. Crimson orbs still took in the actions of the three offenders, still an astonishment to the kunoichi herself.

Never had she seen a unicycle before, yet it was obliviously being used as a ninja tool. And the Overly-Cute kid was something to see too, as he was, again, obviously ninja-trained. The Chained-child set off alerts in her head, warning of imminent danger if pushed too hard.

The ANBU closed in, launching sleep darts towards the children, trying to detain and not kill. The chained-engulfed kid knocked away the darts coming towards itself, and as many as he could towards its team-mates. Sadly, it could knock all of them away as the female kid was hit in a couple of places. The wheel-bearing girl fell to the ground as the wheel nearly exploded with a sudden burst of chakra.

It was originally meant to launch the wheel forward at mind-bending speeds and get them out of the village, but since it had no guidance it flew straight up into the air and continued onward towards the sky. The Cute-kid was evidently stuck with several needles, but didn't appear to be falling unconscious. The third child, dubbed Chain-kid, stood over its friends protectively; the chains stabbing into the ground around the trio in protective arcs. It was looking around defensively, not sure which person to target. The ANBU paused a moment, analyzing what to do next.

Sakura stood up from healing Kakashi's ankles and looked at the scene with her turquoise eyes. Her hands on her hips, she narrowed her eyes at the kids and wondered what the hell was going on. Kakashi held a hand out to Yukari to be assisted up.

Yukari finally turned away from the kids to help Kakashi up and listen intently to any words the ANBU might have. If she were in her younger days, she might have provoked a verbal spar from Sakura and Kakashi, but the intense events that had happened in the past minutes finally sunk in and the Uzaruki groaned in annoyance.

"Oh great: now what? Three wild kids have been taken down by ANBU for blasting up my house and stealing things. Hi Sakura, glad you can be alive OUTSIDE." She exhaled in dry jest.

"Kakashi-senshi, was it those chains that hurt your ankles?" Sakura chuckled, glared back at her raven-haired friend, and gave a raspberry motion.

"Only a little, the kid in the chains used a jutsu to damage my ankle muscles that didn't take effect until after I ran after them…" He paused for a moment, trying to decide if he should calm the kids down, or just knock them out and worry about the calm part when they woke up. Yukari shrugged off Sakura's retort and looked on. A moment later, the jounin leaned over to Yukari.

"Listen, you distract the kids and get their attention on you. I'll come up from behind and incapacitate them. I don't think they'd be too much trouble for me, but you never know. Ready after you…"

Again, there was a face to match the Akashingan eyes, as Kakashi's close proximity made Yukari's blood heat up. She ought to stop having erotic thoughts of the mellow sensei at most inopportune times.

"Uh…ok…" She nodded to the few ANBU that had their 'masked' eyes on her as she stepped forward to address the kids.

"Oy, there, what's this ruckus about anyway? Did somebody hire you to piss me off, kidnap me or you just looking to play games?"

She looked normal and calm as she spoke to the kids. Her raven-black hair short once again, as the chakra-lengthened hair had been dismissed and fallen off, like a starfish's appendage. This was the norm for Yukari, who was known as a hair-jutsu user. Not that the hair-jutsus were hers alone, she just happen to excel at using them.

"And why steal somebody's property as well?" She walked forward even more, her bodily stance cool, calm and playful as she pointed to the Naruto doll in the Cute-kid's hand. "I am lost as to why you three did what you did."

The chain-touting child turned towards here and its lips started to curl back in a snarl; all of its chains seeming to extend into the ground. There was a rumbling beneath Yukari's feet, but that stopped just as Kakashi appeared behind the child, his hand on its neck. A moment later, the body went limp and fell back into his arms. The Cute-Kid just sort of stood there, staring up at him. Kakashi winced a moment when he noted the head spikes before motioning over to the ANBU, Sakura and Yukari.

"Here, lift these kids and let's take them over to ABNU holding center. Be careful not to touch the head-spikes off this kid's head. I guess I'll just guide this one in front of me with his friends." Kakashi was slightly confused as to why the remaining conscious child didn't lash out more.

The pre-mentioned Naruto plushie was nowhere to be seen as it had been forgotten in the excitement. Sakura hoisted the girl that used the unicycle up into her arms and carried her off. A pair of ANBU carried the Chain-kid while a few more circled them in case it woke up early. Kakashi waited for Yukari to join him before following along, his hand on the Cute-kid's shoulder.

Yukari sighed, yet nodded. It went to show that a kind heart really wasn't the best in some situations. She really wanted the kids to talk, but the ANBU, and Kakashi must have deemed them too dangerous to do so. Yukari smiled as Sakura walked by to inspect the kids. She joined them and stood next to Kakashi, looking down at the kid and canting her head sideways.

"Hm, what a bunch of excitement…just what are you anyway?" She spoke to the Cute-kid as she, Kakashi and the kid made their way to the holding buildings of Konoha.

"My daddy likes to call me 'Death' when least expected. Does that count?" The boy responded in joyous tones. He seemed happy to talk, or maybe he was just happy in general. "Wait…I think I'm human if that's what you mean. Was it?"

Kakashi just laughed at the kid's response and kept walking. He had hoped to talk to them separately, but until he knew what they were all capable of he didn't feel like taking a chance with somebody as un-expendable to him as Yukari or Sakura.

"…What are you?" The kid asked Yukari curiously.

"Hm!" Those scarlet eyes would smile as her mood brightened by the kids' odd antics. "I'm Yukari Uzaruki, a female Konoha ninja with the Akashingan, or 'Red-Bird Wheel' but mostly my eyes are attuned to aerial sight…or a bird's point of view…I see things that a bird can see…" She laughed again, good-naturedly, and looked at the kunai still in her hand. "Oh, well, yea…you kids gave me quite the hullo there, didn't you? What the heck was that all about, anyway? You're not after my eyes are you?"

Some weak interrogation effort on Yukari's part there, but she really didn't expect to do much now that the ANBU had things in control.

"Your dad calls you death? That's kinda stupid; I mean you look more like a Kuro-kun or Tatsu-kun to me…" She spared a red-laced glanced at the three ANBU and Kakashi that escorted this kid to where-ever the destination was.

"No, not really, we don't like red eyes. Well, I don't really care. They scare Wydra-chan and Sheena-chan goes all crazy when she sees 'em. Not your eyes though, more like his." He pointed up towards Kakashi's face.

Kakashi didn't let the mild surprise show on his face, but he looked toward Yukari with a question on his face. Something like 'how does he know?' and 'what are these kids?' Kakashi decided to remain silent for now.

"Besides…oh wait; never mind." Cute-kid cut himself off from what he was about to say, then looked around like he'd completely forgotten about it.

Yukari turned her head slightly, not wanting Kakashi to see her reaction. Of course SHE knew he had a Sharingan, so did the ANBU and other important Konoha people…ninja-wise, that was, but Yukari also knew of the rare others than had red eyes. Both of them she detested; one sent shivers down her spine and the other she wrote off as a bastard and an emo.

"Hm…" Yukari nodded in light agreement. "Very interesting; that you dislike red eyes. They are a real rarity in this world…I mean, yea, well, I take it you've seen the other red eyes then, if you hate them…Oh boy…"

"Mine only get red when I've been up to long, but daddy says that's one of the normal things about me. Where are we going?" The child asked in innocent tones.

He looked up at Yukari with huge, shining eyes usually only seen in innocent children. Kakashi would have spoken up and asked the child a question, but he got the feeling that he should remain quiet on that subject. Instead he turned to the kunoichi.

"Are you okay, Yukari-chan?" Kakashi could read, from her face, as to what going on in her mind. He was good, but not good enough to get the whole message.

"Yea, I'm ok, just thinking…where we are going…well, you three were troublesome…" It was a word that her friend, Shikamaru, loved to use. "So these nice ANBU…" She waved to the trio of red and white masked ninja around them as she spoke. "You are going to put you inside a room without windows until a reason can be found why you did what you did."

She smirked grimly; she never had experience with locking up this young of kids before, so it felt slightly wrong; especially with those overly cute eyes boring into her.

"So you say you have red eyes too? Are they called anything?" Yukari asked as their group reached a yellow and blue painted building with ANBU activity going in and out.

The Cute-kid listened to what she said and waited until she was done to respond, carefully picking what he was going to say before he said it. Wydra, the girl with the wheel, had gotten onto him about that, and made him promise he would do so. Sheena, the kid with the chains, had just up and kicked his ass last time his mouth had slipped too far.

"What does ANBU mean? That kinda sounds like my room. Do you have food? We're hungry. Well, they would be if they were awake. Uhm…red-eyes like this…"

He concentrated a moment, and looked up at her. IT was a simple jutsu he'd done, and his eyes didn't seem anything special. They looked a little dry, like a person that hadn't gotten sleep in a long time. The lines started waving and moving, and he shook his head real hard for a few seconds before they went back to normal. As they walked into the building he reached up a hand towards Yukari's and looked around.

"What's this place?"

Kakashi tapped Yukari on the shoulder to get her attention and then nodded his head off in the direction of Tsunade's office before disappearing.

Yukari smiled to herself as Kakashi went off to tell whatever he wanted to say to the Lady Hokage. As for Yukari, she was stuck, as the Cute-kid had affectively pinned her down by grasping her hand. The three ANBU that were left nodded to the red-eyed chuunin and guided the three kids and her into the ANBU Way station.

"Well, ANBU. I forget what it stands for, but they are this village's black-elite guard, because they are just that good at what they do. I guess you can call them police of sorts…that watch over this village and more. As for this place, it's like a…holding cell for bad people." Yukari mentally slapped herself. "I mean, it's a place to put people that we are unsure of what to do with. So they don't hurt themselves or other villagers. I'm guessing ANBU wants to know why you decided to add a new decoration to my apartment and such. As for food, yea, you'll get some, as long as you don't plan on killing anybody here…"

She was being escorted to the rooms down the third such hallways after entering the building, and her senses were alert.

"No, I haven't killed anything since I left home. Wydra asked me not to. Oooo. Is that their face?" He pointed at the ANBU masks and blinked, concentrating a little. "If it is, then I haven't left home…wait…" He thought for a few seconds, then lifted his head and looked around as if he'd forgotten about it.

He yawned and let go of Yukari's hand, with a small poof of basic transformation jutsu, he popped into the air and landed on the Chained ones chest in the form of Yukari's Naruto plushie. The plushie turned and waved at her as the ANBU put them in the room. Before the door shut he spoke;

"Sorry about your house, we'll fix it. You're nice, I like you." The child's speech seemed disconnected and off at times. As though he changed subjects frequently; or there was a dramatic shift in his thoughts.

Underneath the cuteness, he might come off as a little crazy. The doors shut and a few ANBU stuck around to guard the room. Yukari would feel a pair of familiar fingers tapping on her shoulder. Not good, like Kakashi's, or bad like an Uchiha's. It was the Pink-haired Medical Nin.

"Hup? Yes, Sakura-san?" Yukari turned to Naruto's teammate and smiled. "Is there going to be any trouble with those three? I think they might be homeless and crap…who knows…but they are sure a puzzle…" She was brought back to the world of the serious by her missing Naruto plushie…and thought.

_Oh if Sakura ever finds out that I have a Naruto-plushie…_ Yukari mental screamed to herself. _She'd laugh at me._

"Tsunade-shishou has sent me to tell you you're relieved of sentry duty for tonight. And that she wants you to meet her in her office about something…" Sakura turned to go, waiting for Yukari to come with her. Sakura was going to go back to Tsunade's office anyway, so figured they should travel together. Sakura spoke up again as Yukari joined her in walking to the Hokage building.

"I don't know. I've never seen those three before. A few years ago there was a unicycle ninja in the village, but he stayed for a few days and just passed through. I don't think the kids are homeless. I would say they're missing Nin, but they're so young. They sure are freaky though, especially that little girl." She spoke as they walked along. Sakura giggled and smirked at something.

"Oh, ok…geez, never a dull moment around here, even with Naruto-chan away for training. HE BETTER NOT GET TOO STRONG! I might have to kick his ass then!" Sakura just laughed at Yukari's strong comment.

It was the very thing that started the Kyuubi-container's friendship between her. Naruto had literally run into her as he was running away from the ANBU for pulling pranks, and she had thoroughly kicked his rear for being so rude. Since then, not unlike Sasuke and Naruto; Yukari and Naruto had been friendly rivals. But that event was nearly two years in the past, and now he was off running around the lands for training. His new sensei wasn't Kakashi, but some toad-training pervert that she had met briefly.

"Sakura-chan, do you know what's going on? This is just a random event, right? I mean, this isn't some stupid ruse that those idiot Rock-Nin are pulling, is it?"

The Rock nin, known to the Konoha villagers, were the official enemy of the Leaf Nin; they and the Sound Ninja, as always. Yukari could care less of the Rock Nin and had nothing to do with them. However the Sound Nin had racked up a number of her personal grudges, the top one being Sasuke's desertion from Konohagakure; and injuring Naruto in the process. Again, in the past, but Yukari would never forgive that bastard Sasuke for doing such rotten things.

"From what I've heard, I don't think this is a random event. I don't think it's the Rock-nin though. It's…like during the exams when I looked at Gaara-sama. I got the feeling something really bad was going to happen. I want to say I'm just being paranoid because I'm afraid of what it means if I'm not. You sure about the dull-part though? It's always felt a little quiet with Naruto-chan gone. It's nice sometimes, but I miss his antics…" Sakura was a little silent as they walked. She sighed and stopped walking for a moment, a little outside the door to Tsunade's office.

"I know she's going to talk about it; but that feeling I mentioned? I get it more when I look at that little kid, the one that was awake. The boy that Kakashi-sensei knocked out just seems like he should be something to watch but not afraid of. I didn't want to say anything in front of Tsunade-sama because I don't wanna hear any more lectures today, I've already had enough training for now…" From where they were standing, Kakashi's and Tsunade's muffled voices could be heard.

"Oh shit, you mean the kid's a Jinchuuriki, or just a really bad aura? I mean, if we have to fight those damned Akatsuki…oh, sorry, Sakura-chan, I wasn't there when you fought Gaara-sama during the chuunin exams. I'll listen to what the Lady-Hokage has to say…" Yukari felt flustered know, but tightened her resolve and really wish she had grabbed her Nin band back at home…Meko was probably sleeping all over its shredded remains…poor head band.

"Lady-Hokage, I'm here as you requested." Yukari knocked before entering.

"Come in, and thank you for coming quickly. Kakashi-san has just finished informing me of all the recent events. I heard what you were saying, but I do not think this child is a Jinchuuriki. I have had experience with enough of them to know the difference. There is very definitely something odd about the child, and his friends. You handled the situation well, considering your attachment to what I am told was stolen." Tsunade smiled at the comment. She was not prone to humor or joking much, but she did have her moments; such as referencing the Naruto-plushie just now.

"I asked you here for a few reasons. The first is to hear your account of what happened, and your thoughts on these strange children." she paused, waiting for Yukari to begin. Kakashi stood off silently to the side, having already spoken. "Ah…uh…"

For once, the Old hag got one up on her, did some of Naruto's playful humor rub off on this busty-blonde of a woman! Yukari would have to sort that out with Uzumaki-kun later, but the plushie reference made her dumb-founded for a few seconds before she meekly smiled. If any of the Rookie 9, or even classmates: Lee, Neji or Tenten heard of this…things would be not so quiet afterwards.

"Well. I uh…yea…those kids just came out of nowhere. I think one of them was a teddy bear transformed or something. I'm not sure why they staked my house for action as I've never seen them before…but they did, and Kakashi-sensei caught on before I did. My cat, Meko, was playing with the teddy bear when he found it suspicious and motioned me to be alert…I was, but then the teddy bear grew fangs…" It was a slight embellishment on Yukari's part. "…and tried to eat Kakashi-sensei's thumb. I was about to do something when those chains made short work of my window-ed wall to grab the teddy-bear; who I think turned into something alive and grabbed my property. I'm surprised the ANBU reacted as fast as they did. Those kids are bizarre. They, or the 'Cute-Kid' told me his name was Death and that they hated 'Red-eyes'. I think they might have met either one of the Uchihas in the past, to be so vocal about their hatred…"

Tsunade nodded and took this in a moment. "Yes, that's exactly what Kakashi-san told me and I came to the same conclusions as well. We have no idea where Sasuke-kun is right now, and only a very vague idea about Itachi. So we aren't sure of which they possibly could have come in contact with." The Hokage paused once more and thought for a moment.

"I also heard that Sakura-san spoke of a ninja on a Unicycle passing through here a few years before. Kakashi-san will be leaving soon to find out more information, and you may be following him soon after. What I want you to do is this; pick a team of those you would feel comfortable traveling a long distance with, other fellow nin you can fight alongside easily, and those you can trust best. Soon, you may have to leave Konohagakure for awhile, but we won't know; until Kakashi-san returns. Until then, I want you to find out as much as you can from these strange children. Is there any questions or additional information?"

"Hm…" Yukari was rather surprised…ok, overly surprised to be put in charge of a Ninja squad, but it wasn't the first time, as she had led once with pre-genin a year ago for training, them and herself, but this did require some thought. Since her first choice, Naruto and Sakura were out of the question, she pondered more thoughtfully. Neji still scared the piss out of her, and Shikamaru was off flirting with some Suna kunoichi. Chouji would probably tempt her into gaining more weight than she needed, and Tenten wasn't the best of opposites to work with.

Lee-kun might be a good idea, as with Kiba-san and Ino, or even Hinata and Shino. Hinata, alone out of the Hyuuga Clan, did not creep her out. In fact, Yukari shared a good friendship with the shy Hyuuga heir. Kiba was a good friend too, because he always made her smile and work hard. Then there was Reina Maito, an old time-class mate from back in the Academy days…Reina once dated Yuro, her now deceased teammate, and she and Yukari got along. Ok, so it was Hinata, Kiba and Shino.

"I think I've made my choice. If Hinata-san, Kiba-san and Shino-san are not busy, I'll take them…"

"They are not doing anything at the moment. I know it is confusing; forming a team with no specifics, but tell them of what has happened anyway. Also tell them that more nin may be joining soon, but it is not a definite decision yet. If there is nothing more to add, you may go for now, Yukari and Kakashi. I wish to speak to Sakura alone…" Tsunade waited for the two to leave. Kakashi was already holding the door open for Yukari.

Yukari nodded to the Lady-Hokage and the just now visible Ton-Ton the pig, and turned around and exited the office of the Hokage. Things were ever in motion for her, which wasn't a bad thing. But she ever so slightly missed those dull, eventless days of yore, when her team died, and her sensei, Jamaru Akanchi, had been plotting to betray her to Itachi and the Akatsuki. He, like Kabuto, knew of her strong blooded-Akashingan trait and wanted to cash in big for turning her over to the highest bidder.

In part thanks to Naruto, that scheme was uncovered and Jamaru securely sentenced to the Konoha Jail Compound, light-years away. Now, since the rise of the new Hokage, and Sasuke had went missing; Yukari had found work again, as a proper ninja, going on and carrying out ninja missions. Not that was she ungrateful; going on missions was very energetic work. Yukari loved it, and was glad that it had brought her that much closer to being as strong as Naruto. Not that she could ever hope to match the stamina of that prankster-demonic fox that Naruto carried.

"So what do you think about all this, Kakashi-sensei? The kids and all? You think they are looking for a place to call home?"

"I think they are looking for a place to call home, but I'm not sure if they're looking for it here. I think the kids have had very bad lives so far, at least the chained one. The little girl seems out of place, and the other one is confusing. He is almost like he is…too cute, in a distracting way." His expression changed and he brightened up, ruffling Yukari's hair a little.

"Don't worry though Yukari-chan, I'm sure everything will work out okay." He smiled his mask-hidden smile at her and seemingly pulled the Naruto plushie out of nowhere.

"I picked this up, but didn't have a chance to give it back to you until now." He held it out to her.

"NARRUY-CHAN!" Yukari jumped in glee as Kakashi produced the haphazardly home-made plushie of the number 1 hyperactive knuckle-head ninja.

"Wow, thanks a lot, Kakashi-sensei! I owe you one. I mean; that thing was HARD to make!" She fought to hide a blush that rose to her cheeks. Even though she was 14 going on 15, she still played with toys. Ugh, the Copycat Nin must think her so childish in that aspect. Oh well, it wasn't like the plushie did much, just sat on her bed-stand and reminded her of Naruto-chan's voice.

"Why'd you think they stole it in the first place? I mean it wasn't very outstanding, I had other things on that table too, a picture, a kunai, a clock, and a lamp…kids…" She took the thing and smiled once more. "Oh well, it's safe that that's what counts!"

Kakashi only smiled and laughed, ruffling her hair. "Yukari-chan, you are so adorable some times, one of the things I like about you. But think; what was it about that doll that was different from all the other things? A certain…blond-haired aspect. True, being safe is something that…hmmm. Thank you Yukari-chan, you have given me much to think about." He turned to leave, deciding on walking instead of just disappearing.

She blushed fully now. Yukari understood the comment about Naruto and his habit of inspiring others to feel safe and confident about themselves. Indeed, Naruto had a running count of how many lives he had changed for the better via his interaction with. But the question was; how did those kids know of Naruto?

Red eyes looked up from the plushie and into the already-half-set sun, causing her to sigh and smile. It was late, and the shadows had gotten longer since she finished training. She made her way back towards her house, thinking of Naruto and just what he was doing out there in the wide world. When she got to her place, the gaping hole in the wall was already covered in grey tarp, as her neighbors stood about looking at it with mild curiosity.

"Hey there, Uzaruki-san. I was worried about you when you didn't show up after your wall collapsed." The kindly thread-weaver, Kaiko-san, spoke up when the ninja stopped to finally assess the damage.

"Oh, I'm in one piece, Kaiko-san, I just had last minute things that popped up…and needed to talk to the Hokage-sama." Yukari replied. "I hope Meko wasn't any trouble. I know he's notorious for causing trouble around here…"

"Oh, not at all, Uzaruki-san, as a matter of fact, Meko-chan gave those carpenters a heck of a time even when they left." Her husband, Torto-san, laughed heartedly as he walked out of the opposite house, holding the now-white-furred cat.

The cat meowed and leapt from the man's arms into Yukari's. The married pair chuckled to themselves as they bid Yukari a peaceful night before returning to their house.

Out of the sky, right in front of Yukari's feet, dropped a unicycle. It was the one that the little girl had been riding on, and it was now back to normal size. To have been up this long it must have gone quite some distance. Indeed, the thing would feel freezing to the touch. Shortly after landing, it started to wobble as if trying to roll back onto its side.


	3. Scroll 3

_**Scroll 3: Sleep Over**_

Shino Aburame was walking along next to Kiba Inuzuka, both talking to each other animatedly about something completely insignificant. They had just been wondering around the village and angled towards Yukari when they saw her. Still a few feet away, they paused in silence when the wheel dropped and shrugged thinking it some sort of kid toy.

"Hello Yukari-san, heard you've had a pretty active day so far…" Kiba asked, smiling.

"AACCK!" She started nearly a foot in the air as it had been two, quiet minutes since the thread-weaver and her husband left Meko with her. She had just stand in front of her door, quietly pondering when Kiba, Akamaru and Shino approached her. The cat was wearing, what had to be the closest thing to a feline grin, rolled over in her arms, causing her to drop the Naruto plushie.

"Oh, did you finish a mission or whatever!" Yukari fought a smile and glanced at the unicycle, rather puzzled. But that thought quickly passed through her mind as she saw the two ninjas walk towards her.

"Oh, uh…please don't mind the damage. Meko wanted to add a new cat-house…and I made the mistake of telling him no." Yukari motioned to the tarp that covered the wall's hole. "As it stands, I've got no warm place to sleep tonight, but I'll probably take over Kensuke-nee-san's place."

Kiba laughed and looked at Akamaru as the dog gave curious sniff of the unicycle wheel. "I know what you mean. Akamaru can get pretty vicious too if I say no. I usually don't though. But hey, if you don't get a hold of your brother, then you're always welcome at my place. I'm not sure how you'd feel about staying at Shino's place. Most girls aren't too fond of bugs. HEY!"

Shino's hand was in its pocket once again, but it been removed to smack Kiba upside the back of the head at an amazing speed. Kiba growled at him and turned back to a blushing Yukari, noticing the plushie on the ground and picked it up.

"Hey you…dropped this…" Kiba said, pausing between words as he noticed what it was.

"Ah." Yukari had dropped Meko, earning a slash to the leg and a loud yowl, and snatched the Naruto plushie from Kiba just as he had finished saying 'dropped this.' She quickly stuffed the thing behind her back and grinned fakely.

"Well, Uh, I guess the kids around here like throwing their toys at my place…must be a game or something, I don't know, but yea…!" She would laugh nervously and glance shyly at Shino just the same. Their eyes locked onto each other longer than normal.

Ever since the chuunin exams, Shino had proclaimed he had the hots for her, after rescuing her from Kabuto. Then Kabuto had to go and ruin it by screwing with her kekkai genkai and changed her clan-tattoo into a mild, hormonal-induced curse. Since then, she never found time to develop whatever good feelings she started to have for the Aburame rookie. Now it was just a basic friendship, and Yukari always felt that nervous, butterfly-type feeling in the pit of her stomach when Shino was around. It'd better if she stayed away from Shino and dating him. It was a sad loss to both of the young shinobi. However, it seemed that Shino still had feelings for the bird-user kunoichi.

"Yea, I'll go see if brother is home now. I guess I'll have to fix this place up tomorrow, seeing its night already. You guys stay cool and don't be strangers!" Yukari tore her eyes away from Shino and kicked Meko into action, as the cat had 'caturday-ed' himself on her foot. She waved to the two Nin as she veered away from her place to aim for Kensuke's.

Shino sighed as he watched her leave, trying not to think of the past. Kiba waved and they continued to talk as she walked away.

Yukari then was joined by Hinata, the third person of the team that Shino and Kiba were in. The red-eyed kunoichi nodded a greeting to the Hyuuga female as she opted to break the news of what she had told Kiba and Shino. The two boys were gone by the time Yukari had recalled her discussion with the Hokage pertaining to the fact that she chose to team up with Kurenai's team.

"Oy, Hi there, Hinata? Out a bit late? Your teammates I just saw, so I guess you guys had a mission or whatever."

"Oh…hi Yukari-san…I heard about the event are your place, such odd things happen to you, don't they?" Hinata, poor thing, still shy at times; but had not broken down in a blushing, mumbling mess since Naruto had left for his training with Jiraiya-sama.

"Oh, that…yea…hahaha! I guess things like that do happen to me every now and then…"

The two girls walked in peaceful quietness as Yukari headed towards her brother's place, across from the Ichiraku Shack. Before knocking on the door Yukari had smiled at Hinata, telling her to relax as she handled her brother. Then, holding both a wriggly Meko and plushie in one hand, she knocked.

"Hup! Just a moment, please!" the gruff voice of Kensuke echoed through his two-floor room; as crashing, twittering and cursing could be heard from behind the white and brown door. Apparently Kensuke was on a clumsy streak this day, and had been care-taking of the messenger eagles and his own cache of birds.

"OH SHUT UP TORIKA! I know there is a person at the door! Hey! Yuka-chan! Hyuuga-sama…" Kensuke looked like a normal male ninja, brown-black hair, muscular built; and wore a normal chuunin outfit (at least at the moment). His eyes, like his younger sister's, were stark red. They were dormant at the moment, so the black, colon-like pupils weren't showing. Kensuke was the first born of the Uzaruki clan. Like his father, uncle and his dead younger sister, Raikanami, he had reached the second level Akashingan – the Akasoragan – Red Sky Eyes. Yukari had yet to unlock that stage in her kekkai genkai, but she was getting extremely close in doing so.

This second stage, split the pupil into two black parts, much like an equal sign, and could allow the user to move their sight (optical nerves) into thin air and scry up to twelve miles out from the point of origin – the origin being the body. The difference of the first and second stages was the tools used: the first stage always needed a moving base, such as a bird or eagle, to carry the sight around. The second stage required more chakra and concentration, as the base was freestanding air, something that would be dubbed as 'ghost' sight – nothing was there, but the sight was still in effect. (Think sight beyond sight.) It was written down in the history scrolls that there was yet another stage, a third step, but it hadn't been seen in effect since the first and second Hokages died. (Which would make it Yukari's thrice-great brethren – five generations back.)

"What brings you to my humble home?"

"I was wondering if I could spend the night here since a bunch of kids wrecked the wall to my apartment." Yukari finally snorted out to her elder brother.

"But of course you can, Yuka-onee-san!" the bright smile of his would grace the two girls. "I would be honored to help my Onee-san."

Yukari smiled back as she waved a farewell to Hinata and entered her brother's apartment for the night. Meko had long since jumped from Yukari's arms; and vanished; leaving her with nothing but her Naruto-plushie.

XXX

The unicycle, moving from its spot on which it had fallen in front of Yukari near her apartment, squeaked through the empty roads on its way towards the holding cells where the children were. Nothing important interrupted its passage there – the wheel would only gain odd looks from civilians. In fact, after recent events the night would seem a little too quiet and boring.

XXX

Kakashi, having slept for a minimal three hours that night, had left before the break of dawn on a mission with his remaining student, Sakura Haruno – as to what that mission was: only the Hokage, Kakashi and Sakura knew…


	4. Scroll 4

_**Scroll 4: Enter the Wheel Nin**_

There was moderate bit of commotion in and out of the Ichiraku ramen shop. Inside the modest ramen joint, there would be causes of both distress and joy for the pair working. A behemoth of a man, whose bald head was inches from the ceiling, had a huge stack of empty bowls, and was still eating; asking for more as he finished the bowls served. He wore various pieces of colorful armor over his body; all fluffed out as if he was storing a large number of things on himself. It was amazing to watch him eat, with jaws of infinity it would seem. He was standing, as his weight would crush any of the seats available.

Outside of the shop, right next to the right wall, was an odd lithe, short ninja. He was sitting behind a table that had been produced out of the air, and laid across it were a number of gambling devices. Cups, cards, a mini-roulette table and dice were the tools he worked with. The masculine ninja had a pair of sunglasses covering his eyes, much like Shino's, but bigger. His hair was tucked back into his odd clothing collar. He was wearing a button-shirt that was un-buttoned and flapping in the wind. He wore no undershirt, and a pair of shorts that barely reached his knees. His feet sported a pair of black sandals, three straps each. A few of the children were trying their luck at his games and losing, but none of them lost any money, as the man wasn't charging them. Any adults, be they civilian or shinobi, which crossed the tables lost anything they bet.

If this commotion didn't awaken the occupants of Kensuke's upper rooms; the sound of Chouji Akimichi running past would. The chip-loving ninja had heard of the strange man in the Ichiraku shop was challenging his eating abilities.

Yukari was, for once, able to sleep in; as sleeping in until 8 in the morning was for Konoha ninjas. Her brother and she had a harsh night, as the seal on her back, the seal that had once depicted the kanji of Uzaruki, but had since been forcibly changed into mild curse mark gave her physical pain and nightmares when her hormones raged out of control. She had triggered it when she had fantasized about a couple of Shinobi (Shino and Kakashi). Once, where she bared her tattoo proudly, she hid shamefully behind cloths; all because Kabuto medically altered her sacred tattoo to become the kanji for oniitori, (demon bird), during the Sand-Sound Invasion a year ago.

It was an event that was kept secret even from Naruto; because, even the Lady-Hokage would not know the outcome if Naruto knew that Konoha had two cursed Nin in residence: Sasuke Uchiha and Yukari Uzaruki. Alas, the curse mark that Kabuto bestowed on Yukari was erratic and hard to predict; as the trigger was her highly active hormones.

Tsunade was still researching ways to either null or eliminate the curse mark. But until then, she had resorted to using a seal to keep the erratic curse mark under control.

In as such, there was a nearby Med-ANBU nin to administer the seal-chakra command, effectively knocking her out.

"Ugh…what hit me?" Yukari sat up slowly and placed a hand to her throbbing head. "Stupid noise, what the piss is going on!"

It just so happened that Kensuke had picked a place to monitor the activities of the Kyuubi, as Naruto was known to the ANBU, and that place was none other that right across the feeding trough of the nine-tailed demon: you guessed it; the Ichiraku. The ramen shack was the favorite place of the Jinchuuriki and his sister-figure, Yukari.

Right now the activities going on in the shack had awakened the sleeping beauty-ish beast. Yukari stumbled out of bed and slammed open the second story window just in time to see Chouji's oh-so-familiar fat-ass – she'd never say the word 'fat' to his face in fear of her life – enter the humble ramen shack that she had often – fondly - ate at.

"What the hell? IT'S NOT EVEN CLOSE TO LUNCH TIME, CHOUJI-SAN, WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING EATING THERE NOW?" Yukari's voice was heard by those around and causing the scene. She, thankfully, was dressed appropriately by her now-departed-for work brother, so her normal one-piece sleep shirt was not in action. Her blue-black Nin shirt covered her upper torso and arms to the elbow. Still, the upper torso that hung out the window was a view indeed.

The Gambling Ninja looked up as Yukari shouted and smiled, pausing as he lowered his glasses. "You sure are just what the doctor ordered; mind telling me your name my beautiful dem-…lady?" He bridged cards and dealt them to a few kids as he spoke, having narrowly avoided saying exactly the wrong thing.

The Gambler's smile was arrogant and big, as his sunglasses slid back up eyes that held a knowing glance. He had a special interest in Yukari, anybody that did basic interrogation or psychology could tell that much.

"Beh, I'm Yukari Uzaruki, and you must be a newbie if you don't know that little fact." She wasn't her at her nicest when her nightmares attacked like it was wont to do, and last night was just what it had done. She wasn't the lucky one to have a nice, neat little seal to hold the curse inside of her psyche, like Naruto. No, hers was inherited by a jutsu-rape.

"SEE THE RED EYES! I'm sure as HELL ain't a bloody Uchiha, those jerks!" Her rigid middle finger flew to her crimson orbs to emphasize her point.

A handful of parents scowled in her direction and covered their children's eyes and ears as the tried to find a way to get steer away from the crazy kunoichi.

"So what are YOU doing to that poor old Teuchi-san's business! If I found out you're trying to run him into the dirt, I'll rip you a new one! That's Naruto-nee-chan's favorite place! I promised him to watch out for it!"

She was leaning out the window now, and her now-long hair slipped out of the window and lay on the roofing. Her fish-net and blue shirt covered trunk was better than her once belly-shirt style that she had months ago. This was her new look, and today it was staying. It was her mood, so there. She looked top-notch sexy with her spiky twist of her hair popping from behind her head. At least the long raven-black hair was pulled back into a ponytail.

Inside, the large man and Chouji were racing as they ate, having started on a whole new stack of bowls. It was both awesome and sickening to watch, as no human body should be able to consume this much of anything.

"Teuchi-sama! Are you ok in there! Not drowning in bowls, are you!"

Chouji and she had, amazingly, a standing rivalry in eating at the Ichiraku Ramen Shack, now that Naruto was gone. Yukari kept Chouji on his toes when it came to eating ramen, which surprised both Chouji and Shikamaru.

"So that's the name of the family those eyes are from. Now I know who else I can hate. Yo! Skiminachi!" He hammered his hand on the wooden side of the food shack. "Stop transforming your lips and get up. We've got business to attend to."

With that, the large man, now identified as Skiminachi, stopped instantly and turned to Chouji. As he spoke, his voice was deep and resonant as though he sang a lot and often.

"You are a worthy opponent. One day we shall battle again to determine whose stomach is greater." He turned to Teuchi. "Thank you very much for gracing my senses with your pious creations. As is what is due…"

He pulled a bag from his hip and set it on the counter. It was FULL of money, more than enough to pay for what he had eaten. The large man bent and walked outside, standing next to the slip of a gambler. They held up one hand to each other, moving them ever so slightly in a code-language. He pointed up to Yukari, nodded, and pointed in the general direction of the holding cells; and then at least the gambler spoke his arrogant tones.

"At least I think so…"

"Think so what! YOU WANNA GO AT ME! ALRIGHT! YOU ARE SO ON!"

Inside Chouji had stopped his eating frenzy as well, allowing Ayame and Teuchi to finally make headway on cleaning the bowls of their patrons. It was a good thing too; as they only had five clean bowls left. Chouji paid his due and walked out, glancing at Yukari as she slammed open the door to her brother's apartment – which bounced off the wall to slam shut – and stomped over to the brash-talking gambler and his friend. Yukari's attire was one completely changed from younger days.

Her entire body was firstly covered in a mesh-wire suit, one; that if worn alone, would make even the Great Pervert Jiraiya see double. (Of course there were much hotter figures in Konoha, ones curvier than hers, but thanks to Naruto and eating ramen, she had a well-toned and lithe body.)

Over that she wore her regular blue chuunin t-shirt and her tan vest. The vest zipped up to the chin. Her flare-leggings fluttered in the wind as she walked, and her thighs and torso were safely covered by navy-blue shorts. Her ankle-length black ponytail swayed along her back as she stomped to a halt in front of the pair. It seems today the she awoke in what the Rookie-9 affectionately called; bitch-mode, and was cruising for a fight. It was a shame that she was dressed up with everything but her nin band and her kunai pack.

"You seem to stir trouble, don't you, I say let me grant your wishes." Yukari then finally noticed the overly large man that intimidated her just like Ibiki Morino did. After all, the Morino ninja was in charge of Special Interrogations, so he was AIMING to be scary.

"Oh…uh, hi there…my you're one big guy…" her tirade-mode effectively shut down, Yukari found herself in a mildly embarrassing situation: pestering tourists of Konoha. The Hokage hated when she did that. She also found herself up against a large opponent, which made her give thought to what she was doing.

The big man clapped a hand to his stomach and let out a rumbling laughter as he noticed Yukari's reaction. He spoke to his much smaller friend next to him.

"It is a good thing BaRoKenDo agreed to stay behind a distance, as she would have fainted at the sight of him. I apologize for unsettling you, I meant no harm." He patted Yukari on the shoulder, much like some man would a child.

The smaller man next to him was brimming to the cheeks red. Not because of Yukari's form-fitting clothes and appearance - although he did have some nice, erotic ideas - but because he wanted to laugh. The gambler couldn't hold it in anymore and broke out laughing, his hand up and a finger extended as he pointed at her, bent over with laughter. It was almost like he was going out of his way to be rude; as nobody was this obnoxious. The big man sighed and rolled his eyes; knowing that either one of two things would come next.

"Huh? Excuse me? ARE you laughing at me?"

Nearby, Chouji was now traffic-ing hurrying villagers to a safer distance. Her Akimichi friend knew that Yukari was going to lose it at being laughed at.

"You, sir are GOING TO GET IT!" Yukari hand a five-series of hand signs reflexively and summoned a flock of small birds that was nearby to pester the laughing gambler. It was no big thing; just a prank of her own. She sent the harmless birds to squawk and hassle the target laughing Gambler.

"Welcome to Konoha, sir! Feel free to register a complaint with the Hokage's Office before you leave!"

The group of birds, five in all, gave their last chirps and flew off. With that, Yukari made a show of dusting off her hands and turning towards the inner of Konoha, as if she was done with these annoyances. She had things to do today and it was already late. However, something had given her pause as she looked back over her shoulder to give one last glance at the gambler. The kunoichi shrugged and continued onward down the large path.

The gambler did two series of hand signs at once. His body turned into a tiny pair of dice that rolled out of the way and popped back up. The other pair of signs was perfect for the situation. Not by any depth did he explore, but for that moment as she used chakra openly, he was in her head and saw events of the past day through her eyes, the way she had seen and heard them. Then, as she stopped, he was out. He turned to Skiminachi and nodded.

"Yeah, they're here. And no…" he interrupted his large friend before he asked, "She isn't." was the answer to the unvoiced question 'Is she useful to us now?' about Yukari.

They moved off toward the ANBU station where the kids were being held, walking at a normal pace. He hoped she wasn't trained too much in infiltration justus, because most people took extreme offense to mental penetration.

XXX

Yukari's attention was promptly taken away from the duo as trio from the Ebisu team nailed her. Konohamaru, Moegi and Udon leapt off the rooftops and body-piled her; sending her face-flat onto the dusty Konoha road.

"AHA! I got you, Onee-san! It's time to collect our prize!" Konohamaru crowed triumphantly as he sat squarely on her back. Firstly the friend of Naruto, the Third-Hokage's grandson was now leeched onto Yukari during Naruto's absence. She should have kept her guard up; but alas, the pre-genin trio of kids got the jump on her and now was in the process of claiming their so-called prize. Konohamaru reached for her ankle-long braid and plucked three strands of hair from it, making Yukari yelp from the sting.

"THE HECK ARE YOU DOING, KONOHAMARU-KUN!" Yukari's voice rang out.

"Onee-san is lazy today! We have defeated the number one kunoichi and have taken her hair to prove it!" The brown-haired kid was off and running, having his laughing partners to follow after him. His blue scarf was waving like a taunting battle flag behind him.

"YOU SO ARE DEAD, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" Yukari was on her feet again, chasing after the obnoxious trio as they took to the rooftops. The chase went on for a while until it led her over to the ANBU station. Yukari gave up at this point, deeming it worthless to chase further after the pipsqueaks.

"Darn it, Konohamaru you little idiot, I'll get you back later!"

XXX

Skiminachi, the big man that had intimated Yukari before, was sitting outside behind a table of his own. He had only spectators; and many of them at that. ANBU were on the skirts of the civilian onlookers, making sure he was keeping his peace. The large man was cooking though, with different pans and pots; the table provided the source of heat. Whatever it was he was cooking, Skiminachi was in his element. The armored giant paused to look at Yukari as she arrived.

"Ah, hello Yukari-san. What brings you here?"

Skiminachi's gambling ninja friend was nowhere to be seen. It mattered not, as he reached into various places under plates of armor, pulling out a bottles of either spice or liquid ingredients and adding it into his concoction. A few times he would pull out a foreign ingredient entirely. This man, it seemed, wasn't only new to Konoha; but to the Land of Fire.

"ACK! You again, what are you, a rin-nyou! A cooking ninja! Huh, that figures…" Yukari leapt off the roof and blushed slightly. Seeing him here was weird, she thought, and then again, many things are weird. Just how he got to the ANBU station before her was most possibly due to the fact that she zigzagged her path while chasing Konohamaru on the rooftops.

"I hope I didn't piss your friend off…I didn't mean any harm. I'm friends with the village's number one prankster…so I do a few of my own." She smiled as she canted her head sideways, and placed her hands on her hips to continue. "Sorry I can't stay and chat, but you ought to know a ninja's life is busy!" Giving a bow of her head Yukari walked into the ANBU way-station to check up on those bizarre kids from yesterday.

The large cook laughed, responding to Yukari's first words.

"True enough, I cook and I love it. Often times my enemies find that they are the ingredients…" He winked to her as she left and spoke to himself - whether Yukari heard him or not he didn't care. "Rarely is Shozaku-san angry, and always is he gambling on consequences of actions. You did exactly as he wanted, little vixen…" He chuckled to himself.

Inside Yukari might find that she had been beaten here. The Gambler was leaned up outside of the door to the holding cell that the children were housed it. His covered eyes were up off the floor as he quietly rolled a pair of a 10-sided dice. He didn't see Yukari walking up, so intent was his eyes on something else.

Kensuke, Yukari's older brother, was not here at this station; so Yukari guessed that probably was working with Anbu Bird-Unit – looking after and deciphering missives sent via bird. So another ANBU, Hirokaisu in codename, handed the red-eyed kunoichi the report of the children's behavior since the attack the evening before. Yukari smiled gratefully and read the writing on the paper while walking towards the holding room in which the kids were.

Not only did she have business with the three kids, but another unlucky ninja as well: a hapless Oto Nin. The male ninja was an ungrateful jerk that had once been in league with the Sound Village. Kabuto had sent the idiotic Sound Ninja after her two weeks back to convince her that she could save Sasuke by joining with Otogakure. She would have to be a complete dumb-ass to believe that. Yukari gladly ratted out the unlucky idiot to her sensei, Otou, and the ANBU had him within prison on the same day. It was a shame that he was rigged with mind-erasing jutsu that once triggered, would render his mind blank – which was a shame since Interrogation would have loved to root around in his head.

"Hm…so the kids were ok last night and noth-…huh?" Yukari looked up from her paper to stare at the Gambler sitting in front room she had business in.

"Uh...the heck? What are you doing in here!"

The report as she read it; was sparse. The three kids had been sleeping since they'd gotten there. The most colorful part of it was when a med-nin tried to go in and administer first-aid. The Chained-Kid struck out violently at the person and had yelled and cursed. Aside from that, the trio of children could be heard arguing at random times throughout the night, but they were mostly complacent. The bottom of the report suggested the children be removed later by force if nothing had been learned by night time. Shozaku looked over at Yukari. He stood up and smiled that annoying, arrogant, knowing smile.

"I am only exactly where you lead me. But I'm not trying to provoke you now. I was just waiting for them to stop talking. And they did when you walked up and started talking to me. How'd I get in here? I told those nice ninja over there…" the Gambler pointed towards the six or so masked and unmasked ninja within sight. "That I had business with these little children and that they had escaped and I'm bringing them home. Which is all true, just not the whole truth. What are you doing here?" He slammed his hand on the wall behind him, and a few squeaks could be heard – sounds coming out like 'ow.'

Yukari was really confused; ok so the kids did belong to a village and somebody had come to claim them. I guess that could be allowed.

"What am I doing here…I was just looking up on how they were…those brats ripped my apartment a new one…and got feisty, big problem there…so I just was seeing if ANBU would punish them. I guess they won't now that they are accounted for…"

Yukari's blood rose in temperature as she spoke. The curse-mark was reacting to something; and it affected her blood. This side-affect, however, came out of left field, as the fire grew in the pit of her stomach; making her burn with desire. Something about this situation and the bald-gambler-nin was agitating her curse mark and it growing to be a distraction very fast. She pressed her legs together, which caused her sway to one side. She shook her head to clear her thoughts as she caught herself.

"Oh, yea whatever…I suppose I'll let ANBU handle it…" Her voice slid out of her throat huskily. Being slightly over-heated, she looked once more at him, then turned to hide her blush. The Gambler leaned over and spoke into her ear so that nobody else would be able to hear them.

"I wasn't all too sure at first. I don't know exactly what but I have a general idea of what's going on in you right now. I'm also pretty sure you're not insane. If you ever need a place to not feel so constricted; where more than one person can help you can find me easily." And then he just made it look like he'd reached out an arm to help steady her and leaned back. "I didn't think the sight of me revolted that many people. But fine, be lazy. Never see the kids again." Shozaku smirked as he opened the door and walked in. Now that the kids knew he was there; growling and two other muffled voices could be heard.

THAT set Yukari off; being called lazy. She turned back around, her feathers obviously ruffled and marched right into the room, her hands spinning hair-strands of chakra like a web before launching it at the Gambler, pinning him to the wall. Her mouth was set in a mischievous smirk as she loomed over the spider-webbed Gambler.

"You wanna see LAZY! OIROTE NO JUTSU!"

Here she transformed into her Sexy Centerfold Jutsu. Since there were kids around, her now-size D chest was covered in a black bikini. A milky-white cloud covered her neither regions. Even though Naruto had taught her the jutsu, Yukari had tweaked it to create herself in an even sexier form.

"Awh, such a mean thing to call a kunoichi lazy, mister…such cruelty!" Her voice had softened into a sultry whisper as she leaned over and placed a finger on her lips.

"How can you be calling me lazy, when I'm just as strong as Naruto-chan." Her red eyes were nearly hearts at this point as she pouted her lips. The Gambler just laughed and smiled, speaking aloud.

"Although I do appreciate the view you've provided me with, you realize what you're doing is more or less a fantasy of mine? A scantily clad hot woman and me, restrained?" He leaned over and whispered into her ear. "Although I would appreciate it if you let me back down quickly or covered up: preferable both. You're giving the little girl some nasty flashbacks and she'll either break down or explode. I'll explain her reasons later if need be."

Shozaku had no idea who this was 'Naruto' kid was, or why she would have an obsession with being stronger than him. When he'd been a part of the known continents, according to these ninja, he'd been kicked out of every village as a known thief and swindler. His age and look had changed, or some of the older ANBU might have recognized him from when he was a small child.

Yukari changed back into slender herself and waved away the spider-web of hair. She blinked and blushed at what he said. This was a first; the first time that Naruto's Centerfold jutsu had failed to knock out a male opponent.

"Well, it's…that's surprising…" Yukari looked over to the kids and blinked again, like an owl. "You have got to be a strong ninja, ne?" She turned back to him and canted her head sideways.

"Just what are you? You…you aren't…an enemy are you!" Yukari stepped back and fingered a kunai, yet didn't attack. It was most odd that this uppity Gambler had the nerve to withstand a potent perverted jutsu of Naruto's; normally a KO for all males, and a huge distraction for females.

"Nope. Not unless you want me to be. As for my immunity against perversion; imagine that the jutsu you just did is only a single jutsu. I've had the misfortune of fighting a particular ninja whose entire fighting style centered on them. Unless you intend on traveling with me, I don't really care to talk about that story. Which reminds me, where can I find your Kage?" He went from serious to Jiraiya-like perversion in no time flat. "By the way, you do have a very attractive body." He added with a wink.

In the background, the Chained-kid was being comforted by her friends, as she was sitting back against the wall with her eyes shut tight.

"T-tr-travel with you! Oho! So you're in need of a ninja. I KNEW YOU WERE A PERVERT! Oh that's just great!" Yukari face-palmed her forehead as she spun around muttering herself.

"Oh all the things to get bizarre like this…huh, hey, kid, are you ok?" She looked at the kid with Chains and knelt down by her. "You need medicine or something? Or is it this pervert that's bothering you? I can call ANBU in here and they'll kick his butt out, if that's what you want?" Yukari was distracting herself from the perversion of her making.

_Is this how Naruto made Sakura feel, by being a pervert or hanging with one?_ Yukari thought to herself and figured she would never know.

"I won't let 'em take you if you don't wanna go…"

"We could use ninja, true enough. But we're looking for permanent residents, and you seem to have a good life here." Shozaku stopped himself before he rambled on. He was a little annoyed, and when he got that way he tended to say too much. He paused and let Yukari talk to them.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. You doing that just made her think of her father and it made her feel bad. Shozaku, remember what Kentarou said! And Gilligan, stop biting your nails!" Wydra, the first girl, finally spoke up as she turned to Yukari and smiled. The kid in chains, now openly and alarmingly identified as a girl, was calm again and still staring at Yukari.

"Come on kids, we've got a lot of people waiting for us outside the village. Wydra, Skiminachi will lead you out. I've got to meet the village leader for something." The gambler, now known as Shozaku, sounded less…perverted now, like there was a lot on his mind. The third kid, identified as Gilligan, was staring at Yukari with an odd interest.

"Are you sure you don't need for the kids to stay here?" Yukari queried further.

"No, we're good for now." He picked up a particularly strange looking die and tossed it into the air. A poof was heard and a ninja came into its place. The person was short, but obviously of age, with dual pairs of Nunchaku strapped to his waist. He was pale as a ghost, with Kakashi-white hair. He wore the typical ninja get up, but instead of being black; it was all white and cloudy.

"Joma, stay here and guard the kids. Keep the lights on and eyes open." And with that he walked out after Yukari. "So who's Naruto?" He figured he'd make small talk as they walked towards the Hokage's office.

"Ah, Naruto is a good male friend of mine. I mean, yea, I'm a girl and all, but he's a prankster and has got one heckofa goof-off side, but he's deadly serious on becoming the next Hokage." Yukari hadn't seen the dice-turned Ninja, but the ANBU had. But no move was made; as the ANBU just watched them like a hawk; ever so curious.

"He's two years younger than I and an orphan because…" Yukari slapped two hands over her mouth to shut herself up.

Even thought Naruto had told her all about the Kyuubi, the village law still applied to her. Not one word of the Kyuubi could be spoken of openly in the Village. It was the top secret that Yondaime's sacrifice was to seal the Nine-Tailed fox spirit in his child, making that child an orphan in the process. Yukari was one of the sparse few to know about it and as such, she was forbidden to talk. But that didn't stop her from befriending Naruto at all; in fact, she idolized him nearly to the point of obsession. But she had a healthy outlet; training like there was no tomorrow to become as strong as him. It was her Will of Fire that drove her dream. But she'd still never win against him if it came down to toe and toe.

"Naruto is my best friend, and he needed one because his parents died when he was born. He's had it harsh ever since he was a toddler…and I was there to be his friend. He's an awesomely strong ninja too!" Yukari smiled to herself as they reached the Hokage's office with little problem. "I mean he's got to be this village's strongest ninja."

Shozaku nodded as he took this all in. He got what all she said and in mostly the way that she meant it. He'd had a friendly rivalry going with a few other ninja back in his own village. But that was all in the past now.

"Sounds a lot like Kentarou. Is Naruto still ar-?" He paused mid-word as they reached the Hokage's office. He laughed his ass off and knelt a moment, saying something about a 'tiny one room shack with shitty roofing.' After his laughter passed, he stood up and shook the remaining mirth off.

"I mean no offense…really…I was laughing at something else that this place reminded me of. So…should I knock or what?" he wasn't sure of the way this village worked, and had enough sense not to screw-around when meeting a village leader.

Yukari smirked, led the way in and made her way towards the Hokage's office, hoping to catch the hag either sleeping or drinking sake. Naruto had told Yukari all about Tsunade's habits and it cracked her up. Yukari had made it a point to hassle the old lady while Naruto was gone.

"Naruto's training out in the world now. I don't know where, but he's gonna be strong when he gets back…I'm going to get strong enough to kick his ass! TSUNADE! HERE I COME!"

There was an OINK as Yukari slammed the door open and Ton-Ton, the pig, flew across the room and went KAPOOSH into Yukari's stomach. However, Yukari used a substitute jutsu and the piece of wood clattered to the floor.

"YOU CRAZY PIG! You can't catch me, NYAH!" Yukari's voice taunted from the open window.

The pig grunted and put on its fighter's eyes. Meanwhile, behind the desk, Shizune and Tsunade were sweat-dropping at the scene, before Tsunade focused on the Gambler.

"How interesting…why is a gambler following one of my best kunoichi around? Just who are you and what do you want?" Tsunade ignored the wild taunting of Yukari and Ton-Ton as her brown eyes narrowed in on Shozaku.

"My name would be Shozaku the Dicer. I met her down at the ANBU station when I went to see where the little kids were being kept. From you? I mostly just want two things as soon as possible, preferably before nightfall: that is to have the kids on their way out of the village and permission to make a small grave shrine in the village. I and those who follow me are going to be moving a lot and we'd prefer to leave the marking where it won't be often bothered or destroyed." He stood with his back straight, sunglasses still on.

Shizune had finally caught a hold of Yukari AND Ton-Ton, and had kicked them outside while Tsunade opened up the conversation with Shozaku.

"Just what exactly is this grave marker for? Are you planning to join up with Konohagakure? As for the children, they seem to be a little rambunctious, but in good health. I assume they were just passing through the village before they decided to attack one of my ninja?"

"About the last question; I honestly have no idea why they did that. No, none of us are really planning to join up with Konohagakure. We wouldn't even be here if we weren't tracking those kids down to bring, at least one of them, home. The grave marker, we haven't found an honorable place, since our village fell, because everywhere else didn't have the right feel. Our village leader died recently, and we haven't had a time to stop and do anything to honor him until about now. If there's any serious damage the kids caused that I don't already know of, we'll fix it for you."

There was a bit more to his story, but he had answered her questions. Shozaku mostly wanted to get the kids under the protection of those who he knew he could trust and rely on against the enemies he had been fighting.

Tsunade nodded and smiled as she thought. This man did not look like any enemy of the Rock, Sound, Akatsuki or even a Missing Nin. The Hokage pulled out a sheet of paper and began writing her essay, short and brief, but it explained what was going on.

"The kids did nothing more than make a rumble heap out of an apartment wall, nothing too serious. I had my ANBU on them just to make sure they didn't do anything more than that. As for your jounin-oyabun (demi-hokage) I give my sincere apology. If you need anything in this village that would help, just ask me or the ANBU at the station…" Tsunade wrote an essay of pardon for the children and held it out to Shozaku. "At least spend the day with me in the local gambling resort, Shozaku-san." Tsunade wasn't known for being the Legendary Sucker for passing opportunities for gambling!

Shozaku laughed and smiled. He could sense her eagerness to lose money to him. He hadn't lost a game in years, because if he couldn't win by natural talent, he cheated to no end. And he rarely lost. He took the offered essay and nodded.

"Thank you Tsunade. This'll make things much easier on us. I'm not sure if there's anything you can help with really, all of our biggest problems have been taken care of. I might drop by the local gambling resort later tonight if time allows. For now though, I've got a group of people waiting outside the village; one of which is over-protective of his little sister. Again, thanks…" He smiled and turned to leave, completely forgetting if there was certain etiquette to follow when you were done talking to a village leader. He looked around the hallway, seeing if Yukari was still around.

Yukari was indeed there, and had rolled forward; for she had had her ear against the door, and Ton-Ton had mimicked her. When Shozaku had opened the door, the red-eyed kunoichi had fell inwards; and was caught red-handed in the deadly glare of the Hokage.

"Uzaruki-san!" Tsunade's voice rumbled like thunder.

"Uh, sorry, have no time! Gotta train! See ya old hag!" Yukari jumped up to her feet, grabbed Shozaku by the wrist and tore out of there running. She stopped when they had gotten back outside.

"Whew…that was a close call, I swear, Naruto-kun gives me the worst habits!" Yukari's head was then impacted by the chunk of wood Yukari had used in her substitution jutsu. Tsunade had used it to throw out the window and at Yukari; and as always, the Hokage's aim was on mark as the raven-haired kunoichi's head felt the impact of wood.

"OW!"

"AND DON'T COME BACK UNTIL YOU LEARN SOME PROPER MANNERS, UZARUKI-SAN!" Tsunade's voice could be heard from even the inside the closed window.

Shozaku was laughing as he was pulled along. He could've stopped the missile, as he had seen the wood-log falling, but he figured the jest was all in good fun and didn't mind. He gave Yukari a pat on the head and spoke oddly.

"There should be a pocket-sized version of you so I can have one, and besides, all that I would've told you anyway. I just didn't know you would've gotten yourself kicked out of the room. Well, if you're bored, I've got to go down to your ANBU station and get the kids out. We've still got a few long hours before nightfall, but the sooner the better…" He turned towards the station, waiting a moment to see what Yukari would be doing.

She stood up, rubbed her head and laughed as well; after all she was a ninja and had been pain-tolerant trained since the age of three.

"I guess, hahahah! With Naruto-nee-san gone, somebody's gotta keep that old h…-the Lady Hokage in good spirits!" She joined Shozaku and headed, once again, to the ANBU station where the kids were being held.

If one looked over the entirety of Yukari's personal file, one might find out that she virtually was Naruto's twin sister in personality. A sense of pride, determination, humor and honor all were traits of the two ninja. While Naruto was inherently mischievous, Yukari learned to be by association with Naruto. However, both ninja had the power to change peoples' lives. Naruto had to learn to do it; and Yukari inherently. One had a demon sealed away inside him, and the other had a curse mark. Indeed, it was most intriguing to even the Hokage.

"So your leader fell in battle, that's terrible…Sarutobi-Hokage-sama died a while back. It was a horrible event…when a leader dies…many, if not all, are saddened to the soul." Yukari looked solemn for a moment. "Thankfully, Tsunade-sama decided to fill the position again."

"I know that Tsunade is really old for her delicious appearance. I'm pretty sure she wanted to gamble against me to test my mettle; but I try not to gamble against people that I'm pretty sure can kick my ass, because I never lose and they get mad that they never win. Yeah, he fell in battle only four or five months ago, and we haven't really had much time to stop and mourn until now. I'm glad though; back during his traveling days, he said Konoha was the nicest village. Ah, here we are." He said as they arrived at the ANBU station, again, without problem.

"Well, I heard once that Tsunade-sama is known as the legendary Sucker, so I wouldn't be surprised that she wanted to gamble. Shizune-senpai tells her not too, but Tsunade-sama does it anyway!" Yukari clasped her hands behind her back and smiled. "Well, I guess you don't need me anymore, since I'm so LAZY…" She drawled out the word on her tongue. "I suppose I better go do SOMETHING before I turn…or Hokage-sama changes me…into a slug!" She smirked and waved at Shozaku and turned towards the east training grounds.

"Have fun training; hopefully you'll get strong enough to beat what's-his-name."

"NA-RU-TO!" Yukari pronounced out with a smile.

Shozaku knew the boy's name now, and he was teasing her. As she walked out of ear shot, he muttered to himself.

"As entertaining and sexy as you are, kunoichi-san, we hopefully won't have to meet again. It'll probably mean very bad things…" The gambler went inside to extract the kids; handing the ANBU the paper Tsunade had given him. Being both a leader of sorts and a very perverted person, he was having a hard time keeping thoughts of the women he'd met that day out of his head.


	5. Scroll 5

_**Scroll 5: Grave Interruptions**_

When Shozaku exited the station with the kids in tow, he told Joma and Skiminachi take the kids and get out of the village to join the others. He informed his two comrades of his detour in finding a place to mark the grave before he joined them. Shozaku also wanted time to be alone, at least away from all the usual faces. He'd been with them constantly for the past few months; and the only 'alone' time he got was to take a piss.

Being around the group of the people he led grated on his nerves after awhile, and he normally would've complained about it, but he was trying to be a good leader in lack of their previous ones place. The gambler first went in the direction that Yukari had gone, wondering if he might find the graveyard in doing so. He also wanted to see the town, wondering how it had changed since he last remembered it.

Yukari's reminiscing on comrades that fell in battle was a painful reminder of those who mattered more to her than names; friends and family that had either gone missing or had died. She made a quick stop at her half-newly finished apartment to pick up her nin-band, kunai and to show her neighbors she was alive and unhurt. Yukari then angled over to the Ninja Monument to pay her respects: Sudokari Misaruki, Maso Ankou and her missing sister, Raikanami. She knelt down in front of the angled shrine made of stone and carved names and closed her eyes in deep thought.

Shozaku eventually found the place he was looking for, and spotted Yukari as well. He noticed the way she was kneeling and the look on her face and decided not to bother her at the moment. He did look around for a suitable place, something out of the way, yet still close enough to the Konoha monument. If it was him, he would've wanted a grave enough so that anybody passing with-in sight would see it.

But alas, Kentarou was never one for extravagance. Finding a small spot, he pulled something out of his pocket. It was a mini-unicycle of which quickly grew into a normal sized one. He dug out a small hole so that he could put it in, and did so, burying it so that half of the wheel was underground and only one pedal stuck out at an angle. He then started talking to it, assuming that even if somebody noticed they wouldn't interrupt him.

"I don't really know what happened; we never did find a body. I can only hope that, even as I pay my last respects, they won't be the final goodbyes. I honestly don't know how we can keep going for long without you. I can lead for a bit, but I don't think it's my kind of life. Hell, if it wasn't for you, I'd probably be locked up in a jail somewhere for swindling too many stupid people out of their hard earned money. I heard you liked it here, so I'm glad we could leave you here. Everything just seems so…odd right now, if you're out there anywhere listening, give me even a fraction of your strength so I can do everything that may soon need to be done. I'll bring the others by soon. Goodbye Kentarou-sama…"

Shozaku stayed kneeling, silent for another minute or two.

Yukari had been the sort to eavesdrop, but she just stood there, watching for a few minutes before heading to the training ground. However, before she got there, her stomach informed her she skipped a meal.

'Baaaa-aaad Yukari-chan…' It growled. She blushed and slapped herself on the forehead. It was lunchtime and she had skipped breakfast.

"Hm…I wonder…where that really tall nin-ryou is…I hope he's still around…" Yukari mused to herself and headed back to the ANBU Way station to find him.

The ninja-chef Skiminachi had already left, along with Joma and the children. Minutes later, Shozaku passed by as he retraced his steps. He didn't have the village mapped out in his head yet so he just went back to everywhere he had been until he found the way out. He gave a polite wave to Yukari as he kept on walking.

She looked very odd at this point in time: she had her finger point back the way she came and then to the opposite direction and back again. Was this dude digging her? Stalking her even? Was she going crazy! Yukari shook her head and jumped onto a roof top and decided just to go to Ichiraku Ramen for lunch: it was god-sent and affordable.

A few minutes into Yukari's dining at the Ramen shop, a large procession of foreign ninja could be seen walking in a straight line towards the ninja monument area. At the front of the line was Shozaku, followed by Skiminachi. Wydra came next, holding Shozaku's hand, but the other two children were nowhere in sight. A civilian people whispered and wondered amongst themselves as to what exactly was going on. The group Shozaku led were traveling in to pay their final respects before they did anything else, whether it was leave immediately or not.

Yukari was on her second bowl of her normal trio of bowls when she spotted this scene, and promptly choked on a 'naruto'. Pounding her stomach, she coughed up the offending food piece and stared at the line.

"That's it, I've died and gone to limbo, this day just keeps getting weirder and weirder…what IS it with these people! I swear…" Yukari paid for twice the amount to Teuchi, as per agreement with Naruto before he left, and ninja-ed her way onto the roofs, following the line of weird ninja. She wasn't the only one as a few or so odd ninja – chuunin level - were watching with mild curiosity. It was a sight to see in their eyes.

Behind Skiminachi was a ninja with fire-red hair that blew in the wind behind her. She wore a pair of earrings that had the symbol for the Sand-village on them, to indicate she had lived there a long time ago. Joma walked silently behind the woman. Next came a tall and skinny person that was dressed all over in stripes, and the stripes seemed to continue along the rest of his body as well, ranging in all the colors. Behind them were a small group of four ninja that were riding along on unicycles. At the end of a line was a ninja that was dressed all in black, the cloth covering his entire body. No visible holes were left, so it was a mystery he was able to breathe.

They continued marching by, not even paying enough attention to ignore the stares. Wydra could tell what was coming, and was already starting to cry. They continued until they made their way to the little wheel-in-the ground that Shozaku had set up.

As they made their way to the half-buried cycle wheel, Shozaku moved to stand behind it. He nodded towards Joma and the last ninja in line, who both did a few quick, hand signs. To those with good eyes, whether chakra-related or not, they could tell that something had happened. It was a bit more evident when, as Shozaku started talking, no sound could be heard. He continued on for only a few short minutes, before nodding back to Joma and the other, who snapped their fingers again.

"I've already said what I wanted to say, and as bad as it may be to say it, it makes me sad to be here much longer so I'm going to go on. We'll meet up at camp later tonight with the rest."

Shozaku started walking away as Skiminachi and the fiery-haired woman walked up and knelt in front of the grave. Wydra stood off to the side, unsure of what to do herself, but she was evidently torn up about the whole thing.

Yukari wasn't one to butt in when it was apparent that her ears didn't need to hear things, but she did understand the body language and bowed her own head in respect.

"Oy, Yukari-chan what's all this hub-bub about?" A grey-suited ninja appeared next to her and lightly tapped her on the head.

Former ANBU ninja 'Otou-sensei' stood next to his new student. Like Akanchi before him, he had the job of training genin. However, unlike Akanchi: this nin would not betray her to the scum of enemy ninja. ANBU often were given code names and Yukari was all too happy to call him by his: Otou.

Being clad in grayish blue instead of the normal chuunin green, Otou looked at the scene and chuckled. This had nothing to do with him or his job. No, he wasn't even mildly curious. He was here to train the young Uzaruki to become a deadly ninja in her nature-based chakra: which was earth and wind. He also assigned to keep an eye on the curse-mark that plagued her. Kind, grey-green eyes glanced back and forth from Yukari to the mourning group of mix-mashed ninja below. He had his kekkai genkai, a bloodline limit that gave him a third, purple color eye, hidden behind a shaped-to-fit headband. It was something his clan had, and only he and his brother, Okamizu, were publically known to have it. The rest, whoever they were or even if they existed, had theirs hidden under duty and secrets.

"Otou-sensei! This has to be the oddest thing ever! I mean look at them! They are so…colorful!" Her voice was low, and raspy; as if she was making herself whisper.

Shozaku looked over and nodded towards Yukari as he shuffled along, hands in his pockets as his mind was in deep thought. He kept on walking, eventually the little girl Wydra running to catch up with him and jumped onto his back.

As the last ninja in line walked up to speak his piece, a loud roaring noise was heard from far off in the woods outside of Konoha. Trees fell, scattering birds into the wind. Each of the foreign ninja closed their eyes and sighed; all were thinking: 'Will there ever be a moment's peace?'

"What the hell is that!" Yukari's red eyes went wide; her body posed; as if she was hesitating to use her kekkai genkai to investigate the source. "Do you need me to see what it is, Gambler-san!" She offered as she landed next to the tense ninja.

"No thanks. There's somewhere else I should probably be or I'll get hell for it later. You should probably concentrate more on protecting those that matter anyway. Yo!" Shozaku turned towards the rest, running up to Skiminachi, who was eating an odd bag of god-knows what.

"Catapult in the direction of BaRoKenDo, everybody move into battle mode!" He hopped on to one of Skiminachi's outstretched hands, which had grown in size. Alongside him, a couple of ninja jumped, and were instantly tossed high and far out of the village like being shot out of a catapult. Wydra tried to jump along, but Skiminachi stopped her and pointed towards Otou and Yukari.

"NO FAIR! I WANNA FIGHT!" she screamed at him. The cook stood silently and shook his head, saying only a few choice words:

"If you go now and die, what person then would Kentarou have raised?" That shut her up. Wydra began crying as she whirled and tackled Yukari, clinging to her.

Yukari was nearly bowled over by Wydra as Otou-sensei bowed to Skiminachi in agreement and disappeared for action. Yukari quickly took Wydra onto her back and fleetly made her way back into the safe zone of the village.

"Um…want some chew-gum?" Yukari looked down at the girl and remained slightly perturbed. Did the Cook-san just shove a kid onto her? Talk about lousy bets. Her tri-eyed sensei was gone too; most likely getting to the bottom of the scary roar that echoed out moments ago.

The young kunoichi nodded her head and continued to bury her face into Yukari's stomach/side. The girl was muttering about how mean they were and how she missed him too, and how she wanted to 'kill those bastards for what they did…'

XXX

Seconds later elsewhere, Sakura could be seen dashing towards Tsunade's office, looking worse for wear, but well enough to run. She slammed open the door to the office and paused, catching her ragged breath.

"What is the problem, Sakura-san?" Tsunade-sama's brow rose as Sakura entered her office.

"Tsunade-shishio, I need…medical…attention and Kakashi has been…captured…" She said as quickly as she could between breaths. Sakura, having relayed the message, collapsed from combined lack of energy and damage to herself.

Outside the village perimeter, a lot of what the responding ninja would see: would be a huge, black flowing mist. Within the mist, sounds of battle between multiple ninja emanated – the clang of metal kunai against metal kunai and sharp, quick cries of bodily contact. The black mist was beginning to circle around the west gate of Konoha very slowly. By the speed it was going; the mist wouldn't encircle the entire village until a few hours after nightfall, and it was still mid-afternoon. At one point, someone that looked like Kakashi was thrown out of the mist close to the outer wall to land on his back. The person looked extremely wounded.

The gates had been closed, as the ninja were evacuating nearby civilians into the hidden-houses scattered throughout Konoha. This had happened once before, during the Sand-Sound Invasion. And just like before, things went smoothly as ninja prepared themselves for a fight. All types of nin were reporting in and out of the Hokage office, and their respective stations. Yukari herself had barely made into the safe zone before things got hectic. Otou-sensei reappeared and smiled kindly at Yukari and Wydra.

"Yukari-chan, please come with me." His left hand had a large, boulder-sized shuriken as he held his empty right hand out to his student and Wydra.

"What in the name of the Hokage is going on!" Yukari had Wydra on her back and instantly wondered where the two other kids were; and if they were ok or not.

"Now's not the time to talk, Yukari-chan, we are currently moving west-side civilians into the hidden houses, and I want you in one as well, until further notice."

"I'm a god-damned CHUUNIN, sensei! I can't be shuffled around like a puppy."

"I know, I know…" Otou-sensei had led them to a dragon-carved statue outside the closest district – Yurimi – and made a series of quick hand signs before pushing once then pulling back on the dragon's left ear and right eye. The statue slid aside to reveal a staircase going down into the earth.

While she was watching her sensei, Yukari's shadow grew a fraction bigger as it connected with the shadow that the statue was casting off.

XXX

Outside the village wall, and within the mist, both Joma and Shozaku were sprung high into the air. Joma was attached to Shozaku's back and glowed with charged chakra. When they were high enough up, Joma shoved all his gathered chakra into Shozaku via his hands that were placed on the side of the gambler's head. It was a strange sight to behold for any of the assisting Konoha ninja. Gigantic cones of light shot out of Shozaku's eyes and into the black miasma.

As the cones of light touched the black fog, it blew away the black, inky mist like salt on ice-cream. Now that the assailants were visible, the battle paused momentarily. A very large man, one that stood in the light only long enough to be glimpsed, stepped back into the black mist.

Visible too, was a wiry looking man that looked like he'd been jig-sawed together. His hair was static-y and spiked on one side and not the other; half of his face was lit up in a huge smile with wide eyes while the other half was closed, and one arm was gigantic while the other was normal in size. The two-parted man looked into the sky, noticing what Shozaku was doing, and slammed his fist onto the ground twice before running off.

The black fog quickly withdrew itself into the distance, until as the Leaf Ninja could see; it was being sucked back into a single ninja. Shozaku and Joma were still high up, seemingly kept there at the amount of chakra both were expending, as Shozaku's Cone-eye-jutsu scanned the area.

Seconds later, Shozaku and Joma dropped out of the sky, into the arms of Skiminachi. Most of the ninja that had been seen visiting the grave were either knocked out, or leaning against a tree and recovering.

Just like that, the battle had ended; or did it?


	6. Scroll 6

_**Scroll 6: Fight On!**_

Yukari had taken Wydra and gone into the earthen staircase as Otou-sensei covered up behind them, moving the statue back into place as if nothing at happened.

"If I'm right this will take us to a long tunnel and then ladders, bringing us…well, I'm not sure if I should tell you or not…" Yukari spoke up in the semi-darkness of the now covered staircase. "Let's just say it's a safe place to be at the moment. You ok back there?" She blindly reached into her kunai pack, thanking the gods that she had grabbed it, and pulled out a stick of tan-white substance wrapped in clear skin.

"Here you go, chew-gum, it's one of my last of three pieces, I won it in a bet with our Hokage. I got five, but I used two of them already." Yukari handed it to the rather quiet girl and finished climbing the seventy-two; yes she counted them, steps that ended in a long tunnel with sparse lighting. Shifting the weight properly onto her back, the red-eyed girl took off running until it had been five minutes. Then she stopped and rested.

Suddenly, Yukari's shadow grew bigger; and the meager lighting around her was extinguished as the shadows reached them. Wydra noticed, shouted, and started running off in the direction they had been going previously before stopping and turning to the Uzaruki-heiress. Wydra slammed her feet onto her unicycle.

"Get on! Hurry!"

"Nani? What the bugger going on!" Yukari wasn't a slight doofus like Naruto, nor did she have his ungodly amount of stamina: but she knew when to run and when to fight. This was a 'when to run' deal. She ran after Wydra and matched the girl's speed, step for step.

They took speeding off immediately. A cackling voice could be heard as the speed of the shadows lengthened. Yukari knew that fight in darkness was going to be a challenge.

"Oh come now, you've no chance of escaping me. Kentarou is nowhere in sight, all of your protectors are outside dealing with the family, and all you have to protect you is some lowly chuunin. So why don't…you…just…STOP RUNNING!" A large hand popped out of the ground, a kunai held within, positioned to stab Wydra in the head.

"KAGE BUNSHIN NO JUTSU!"

Like Naruto, she too, had learned the Shadow Clone Jutsu. Her only drawback was; she could only do two clones. But those two were enough as one tackled the hand, Kage-Yukari's hair wrapping swiftly around both Kunai and hand.

"That's Uzaruki-chuunin to you, you lame-ass hand-monster!" Real-Yukari screamed as they flew passed the hair-wrapped hand.

"The freak! This is too weird…hands popping out of the tunnel…if we can, Wydra, let's get back to the entrance…we can use the light there!"

Wydra started circling around and ran up along the walls, zooming back towards the entrance. She did a few quick hand signs and her wheel started to illuminate the tunnel, lessening the darkness. The disembodied hand re-appeared at the beginning of the tunnel though, this time with another hand, as they together did a series of hand signs. Several large strings of webbing appeared in the way, blocking the entrance.

"Can you beat me to the other side?" the voice cackled. A shadow could be seen entering the light from Wydra's wheel, going towards the exit. "Isn't this a fun game Wydra-chan?"

Wydra might not know it, but depending on her training, Yukari might have found it fun to fight by the wheel's light and on stairs. The voice was just trying to psyche Wydra out and her only help to be had was Yukari and her two kage bunshins.

"Beh, you think those weak-ass strings are going to stop us!" the real Yukari made a series of bird-dominate hand signs and literally threw her hair outward, into the opposing string web, piercing it and creating a shaft of black hair; that tore open the dragon statue off its base and launched it clear into the air. There was only five more feet to go as the light was shining down into the gaping new hole Yukari had made with her chakra-covered hair strands.

"Beh, let's show these stupid hands that we're the better kunoichi, eh, Wydra-chan?"

The webbing itself was pierced and became limp, until they passed between it. Then it came alive again and reached out, grabbing at the Yukaris and Wydra to try and throw them back into the tunnel. Whatever the source of these attacks was, it knew it'd have no chance of victory if they got outside where they could get help; if help hadn't already noticed the gaping hole in the dragon statue.

Yukari shouted in anger as she and Wydra were thrown backwards ten feet. The two clones of the red-eyed kunoichi easily caught the girl and unicycle and swiftly brought out a pair of kunai.

"Just was the crap are you! You better talk before I bring out the big artillery!" Clone-Yukari was checking all over for enemy signs, as the real and third Yukari joined her. The three stood in a Delta (triangle) formation – back-to-back-to-back – with Wydra in the middle them.

"You aren't a Spider Nin, are you, you lame joke!"

"You mean that pathetic fool that joined up with Orochimaru! HE WAS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT MY FATHER'S TAUGHT ME!" This seemed to piss off the voice a little. It rose up out of the ground at the entrance, doing a few hand signs as it came. Before a series of web popped up and killed the light, he could be seen. It was like Ibiki Morino, but all over. The boy was pretty much naked, except for a pair of shoes and pants. All over his body, various scratches, gashes, holes and other healed over scars showed. It was little wonder he was evil and angry.

Wydra's wheel began shoving out more and more light, but it seemed as though the darkness was literally attacking the light and trying to snuff it out. She was scared, very scared. She didn't get until now what exactly Skiminachi had meant. She didn't think he was such a meanie anymore.

XXX

Meanwhile, outside the village, one of the ninja stirred. It was the ninja wrapped all in black cloth, with no apparent seems or holes for air. A rather creepy person, but he'd been with the good ninja before. He had previously been lying knocked out, but seemed to come alive with a banshee-like gasp of air. With his legs severely mauled, he crawled with his hands as fast as he could in Yukari's direction, pulled there by a certain force.

The creepy, black-clad ninja continued to crawl into the village, ignoring everybody else. He didn't think to ask – partly because he couldn't talk – for some medical help but it would've been good for him and his wrong-way twisted legs. Sensing a growing urgency, his hands sort of misted out, grew, and became claws of darkness that gouged into the ground and pulled him farther and faster towards the Dragon statue. The ninja was almost there; it made its way over a house and clawed the roof wide open in the process. It would've just gone through the house, but this wasn't his village and he'd been told certain rules should be followed no matter what.

XXX

"Ew, gross…put some freaking clothes on, you freak." Yukari-clone nearly gagged at the sight of the man. Per say it to be one thing to peep at the men's saunas once on a dare, but this man was nothing. He shouldn't even be allowed to be walking about WITH cloths on.

"Just who are you and what the crap are you wanting here! You better scram before I get mad." Kage-Yukari was studying the light produced by the unicycle intensely, as if trying to formulate a plan.

"I've seen some ugly shit in my days, but you have got to take the cake, ew…" Real-Yukari was indeed, truly disgusted, and not bluffing like her usual attitude was wont to do.

"You ok, Wydra-san?" Clone-Yukari glanced back to the girl on the cycle.

Wydra was still on her Unicycle. It was almost habit to not try and let her feet touch the ground.

"Yeah…I don't wanna die." She wanted to hug real-Yukari and just feel safe, but knew that was; right now, the opposite from being safe. Under her breath, she muttered:

"Kentarou, please help give me strength."

Right next to them, right outside the light, the voice was heard:

"Why should your father help you when all mine has done is ignore the cries for him to come back!" Not quite sure which was the real one; a normal hand reached into the light to give an open-palmed strike at Yukari-clone's head.

"Nobody is gonna die in this tunnel, Wydra-chan, because I'm on the job!" Yukari-clone grabbed the hand and grappled it, using her own momentum to hoist the owner of the hand over her shoulder and behind them, hoping to make the hand marry the dirt and ground.

"Peh, is that all you can do? Lee-chan is the best in taijutsu, so I've learned a thing or too when opponents start throwing their appendages around!" Clone-Yukari spat.

The real-Yukari nodded and turned upward to the ceiling, throwing pieces of paper with writing on them, about five in all, in a semi circle between the just thrown man and them.

"Ok, who wants the party?"

As the hand grabbed the arm, he spoke, his voice dripping anger and hatred, and speaking a line that made no sense.

"I am not a traitor, and you've no idea my capabilities." The arm came off within Clone-Yukari's hand, and there was a poof as it turned into a couple of very large spiders that leapt up to bite at the three Yukaris. The ugly ninja was now completely ignoring Wydra, having deemed Yukari a much bigger threat. Which although not the world's biggest mistake; Wydra would teach the man to watch all enemies. She started doing a series of hand signs, a long one.

"Beh!" Kage-Yukari winced as she herself barely dodged the spider and bit her thumb in the same motion. The Clone-Yukari wasn't as lucky as the spider landed on her. Kage-Yukari leapt up to touch one of the five seal on the ceiling and cried out.

"Tori Kuchiyose no jutsu!" A flock of five owls were summoned and went after the spiders. Yukari was glad that she had opted to sign an Owl's contract.

"Wydra, now might be a great time to pop that chew-gum into your mouth…it's really beneficial!" The spider-carrying Yukari-clone smirked as the spider bit her and ended her shadow-clone induced life. Clone-Yukari died with a woomph of cloud.

Wydra nodded and complied, quickly chewing the gum. She had no idea what it was for, or how she'd managed to do that when she was still doing hand-signs. Wydra hoped Kage-Yukari could occupy him long enough, the only reason this took her so long was because of her inexperience.

"So you're a bird are you? I'LL CLIP YOUR WINGS AND EAT YOU SLOWLY!" he shouted. "Summoning jut-…oh no…"

All of the darkness, all of his jutsu, disappeared and he was seen not three feet from the two remaining Yukari. He was looking at the entrance, where the currently-crippled ninja had just ripped off the statue's covering and dropped down into. On the enemy ninja's scarred face came a look of fear; the kind a child might get when confronted by a large and scary dog. He took off running down the tunnel; going straight where all the safe zones were.

A swell of chakra flowed through Wydra's body, the source coming from the chew-gum. It was a reservoir of built up chakra, much like a food-pill, only without the bummer-ing side effects. Kage-Yukari grinned then frowned as her limited chakra-life span ended and she vanished with a pop. It seems that a spider had crawled up her leg and landed a bite on her knee; and it proved to be poisonous indeed. Poor Yukari-kage.

Yukari's eyes widened and the normal black pupils split in half, most like an amoeba birthing. Her Akashingan was active and zeroed in on the lead owl that was chasing the scarred, ugly nude mad man. Good thing too, because it probably was a hideous sight from ground level.

"Now to turn the tables on the spider itself…"

Yukari, now tapping into the dredges of her chakra reserves, made a short sign of three: dragon, rabbit & bird, and the strands of hair the each owl was carrying grew in size and volume, until the birds had to let go. A large as a man-sized snake, her hair strands fell upon the retreating man and became like tar and lava, gooing the ground under his feet.

"Gross huh? A little payback for ya…"

Her owls only had an instant before both black mist and red-hot fire rushed under them. They vanished with a poof. Her colon-like black pupils slowly were drawn together, back into a normal black pupil that sat in the middle of her red eyes. Breathing heavily labored from chakra exhaustion, Yukari looked over her shoulder to Wydra and nodded seriously.

"Hey, great job…just hold on a little longer…" Yukari hoped Wydra had a good hold onto her back, because the red-eyed kunoichi stepped backwards until they were out of the tunnel and standing beside the crippled ninja. The whole battle had taken three minutes from start to finish; and within those three minutes, Yukari had managed to drain her modestly large reserve of chakra. The Med-Nins showed up now, as they had a habit of doing and began to inspect the trio.

"What was that ugly man? An enemy nin?" Yukari asked in a tired voice.

The creepy nin continued to crawl towards the man's passed out and bleeding body. He waved off the medical ninja, throwing rocks at any that tried to get close. He reached him, and put his hands on him. Black ooze seeped out of his hands and into the person's wounds, at the same time putting various seals all over his body. The Med-Nin turned towards Yukari and shrugged.

He didn't have anybody nearby that could explain he had no tongue to talk, and the other methods of conversation he had needed explaining as well. He looked around expectantly at the medical nin, hoping they'd heal his obviously busted up legs. He was out of juice, and he couldn't heal himself too well anyway.

Outside, all the Wheel-village ninja were, hopefully, getting help. Only a few were awake.

"Thank you, Yukari…" Wydra took a few deep breaths.

The Medic-nin knew a ninja's job wasn't finished until she/he said so, and they waited on the broken-legged man until he waved them closer again. Yukari got off fairly unchecked, only a bloodied knee where she had skidded on and her drained chakra.

"Hey, you're welcome, Wydra-san, he was too ugly to allow to breath Konoha air. So I guess this is all of today's adventure?" the red-eyed ninja wondered just what the heck had happened and looked towards the Hokage's Mountain, taking solace in seeing the four and half faces of the Hokages. "I'm guessing you wanna see your sensei again, right? Well I'm betting we'll find him really soon, because the Hokage is going to want to know what happened."

"I…can't explain as well as Shozaku and Trydna can…" She nodded towards the now walking ninja in black. She got off of Yukari's back and walked, slowly, towards Trydna as he walked towards the pair of them. She grabbed his hand and gave it a pat.

"Thank you for helping. We might not have survived without you." She walked back to Yukari and grabbed her hand, like a little girl grabbing her big sister's hand, as the unicycle wheeled up and under her feet.

"Are we going back outside now?" Yukari was right; she did want to know what happened to Shozaku and the rest of the Wheel Nin.

XXX

In one of the open areas reserved for the village's large festivals, in where the Wheel Nin made camp; Skiminachi was making some quick & easy food to help those injured, and for the medical Nin and ninja on duty. It was amazing how much food he could cook in so little time. A few of the ninja and regular civilians were curiously watching the large cook as he plied his trade.

"Yup…since the Med-Nin are here, I'm guessing the clear sign has been given. Man, Naruto-chan sure missed a great fight…" Yukari smiled wearily as she guided Wydra to the Wheel-Nin camp to find out what was what. Meko, not surprisingly, had found Yukari and was now yowling his distain for being ignored.

"Yea, yea, I hear you Meko-chan…I've had a busy day, and no I don't know where the 'teddy-bear-boy' is. So…Wydra, how'd the chew-gum work for you?" Yukari turned away from the cat and towards her, smiling. "A surprise, wasn't it?"

"Yeah, it was pretty good. Where can I get more?" She smiled back up to Yukari.

Trydna, another Wheel Nin, walked along behind them closely. He walked with a more relaxed attitude, but slightly stiffly; like a person with a few permanent injuries. He was looking around at the village, and a wide open-mouthed smile was forming under his suit as he noticed all the colors and the manner that ninja did things in. His manner wasn't evil or threatening, but there was still, something off about him. Skiminachi walked up and offered them some ice-cream.

"I made this myself. Tastes good, it keeps you awake and helps heal minor wounds; like your scraped knee, Uzaruki-san…" He ended the sentence with a Santa-like laugh. Skiminachi nodded to his comrades as he followed a group of ninja back towards the Hokage's office in the middle of the village.

"Hay, Meko! I know, go bug the big tall cook! That'll get you to shut up!" Yukari laughed jovially as the cat swatted at the mute-ninja. "Ice cream that heals, oh wow, the Med-Nins might wanna get their hands on that, I'd be careful." Yukari was used to the tall, huge hulk of a ninja-cook by now as she nodded towards a group of ninja heading towards the Hokage's office; each probably with a report and bag full of questions.

"You three sure you wanna stick around? I'm sure once Tsunade-sama gets her hands on you, you'll all be in the interrogation building for days…as for the gum; I won it in a bet against the Hokage…so it was a pretty risky and high bet, since chakra-positive gum is so rare. I had to store my own chakra in it to begin with…" Yukari shrugged and led them into a waiting room a floor below the Hokage's office. He reached into a bag and tossed a fish to Meko, and laughed at Yukari's words.

"I would be more than happy to offer up my secret recipe. There's no need for interrogation, I'd be more than happy to answer any questions I can. But it's a bad idea to 'interrogate' Trydna. He has no tongue to speak, and can only speak in his mind with certain jutsus. He was never taught to write. His mind is…can be, an evil place."

Trydna was busy eating ice cream, which was weird because he was just holding it in his hands as it slowly disappeared.

"And the gum? I know how to make it, but it is an arduous task…" He took a seat between Trydna and Wydra and sighed. Wydra continued licked away at the ice cream.

"Mmmm…Tsunade's not a mean person is she?" Wydra asked curiously.

"Not at all, she's scary, but that's because she's just old and powerful…she's like a…like a…hmmm…tough on the outside, but friendly on the inside." Yukari finally licked at her ice cream and Meko horded the fish as a ninja bearing the Konoha Leaf band entered the room.

"We'd like you to come with us to answer our questions…" the red-haired chuunin said boredly. "The Hokage is so ready to hear just what the heck trouble you weird ninja have brought…"

"Haiko-baka…that's just MEAN! They are Homeless Nin, treat them with respect!" Yukari leapt to her feet and scowled at the lack-a-daisy red-hair dyed male ninja.

"Yea, no shit, Uzaruki-san. I know that, I was doing IMPORTANT things before that old hag called me too…" Haiko was interrupted with a screech from above. Obviously Tsunade didn't take well to being called old, or a hag.

"I told you, Haiko-san…just do your job…" Another shinobi smirked as he entered the room to escort them to the Hokage's office. Trydna and Skiminachi got up to follow along behind the assistant ninja.

"We knew about the age and we had assumed that she was powerful indeed. Hopefully the conversation will go well. And besides Haiko, this may soon become the most important thing you could be doing." The large ninja-chef winked at him mischievously. It was a kind of mischievous like a kid aiming for laughs, not like a criminal aiming to blow shit up.

Wydra got up to go, but Skiminachi gave her another look and she sat back down with a pout on her face.

"Child, believe me when I say there are things soon said I would die to keep you from hearing. Go find your friends, see what they are doing…" He then turned and continued on, looking as if he dared anybody to have the child come with them. Trydna just followed along, looking creepy but harmless.

Yukari was just fine to let the higher-ups take over for now. She'd probably have to report to the Hokage or Haiko-sensei later. Damn, too bad Izumo wasn't around. He and Kotetsu were on her number one list of possibly permanent new teammates. They were the ones normally to be stuck with sentry duty; as the two were best friends.

"Yea, I wanna know what happened to that Chain-san and the Cute-kun; Wydra-chan, let's go look for them!"

Meko yowled in agreement as he finished his fishy the tall Cook-Nin gave him. The now-black cat jumped onto Wydra's leg and looked up. Meko had the chakra ability to change his fur color. This marked him as a ninken, or ninja animal tool; the only thing was; Meko wasn't properly classified as a ninja, and he certainly wasn't given to Yukari; her specialty being birds and hair. Meko had shown up after Itachi had hit her and Kakashi with the Mangekyou Sharingan years back and had stuck with Yukari, more or less, ever since then.

"Kitty!" and then Meko was hugged close to Wydra and nuzzled the cat. As they walked off, Wydra's feet were once more upon the Unicycle. "They were probably out fighting. They're a lot better at it than I am. But that doesn't bother me…I'd rather train the normal way. Oh! I know!" She pulled a little whistle out of her pocket and blew into it. It wasn't one that only animals could hear, but Gilligan, still dubbed Cute-kun, had its twin and it rattled when blown. A few seconds later hers rattled and turned, pointing out of the village.

"That way!" she tugged on Yukari's hand, acting more like a kid, than a ninja.

"Eh? What's that? A whistle? A dog whistle? Hehehehhe, I bet I could drive Kiba-san crazy…" Yukari muttered to herself as Wydra led her to where ever.

Yukari and Wydra made their way back out of the village, where a couple of the Unicycle-d ninja were rolling about. Gilligan jogged up, waving.

"Hiya! I'm glad you're okay Wydra." He hugged her. "Sheena's over there, talking to her brother. Hi, miss-forgot-your-name…" he said to Yukari, looking up at her.

"Cha, hello…this is…most unusual." Yukari looked about at all the unicycles and whistled in awe. "Those are odd tools you got there. I've never seen it before in my life, until yesterday. You guys must be strong to be able to use it!" Yukari smiled and nodded to the guy, Gilligan, before continuing. "Your names are most foreign. I take it you're not from around here or the surrounding countries? What village are you from?"

Yukari had finally un-stoppered the thing that held her questions back as she and Wydra took a seat on the grass.

"My daddy says he's from a different place entirely. Every time I ask he says something about 'that god-damned bunny' and tells me to 'shut the hell up or else.' He says most of the names here sound funny so he 'names us whatever way he damn well pleases.'" Gilligan responded. When he imitated his father, his voice got a deep pitch and a creepy feeling.

"Oh, Kentarou trains us to use them, and he taught us all sorts of Jutsu that you can only do if you have a wheel. He says it's kind of like a test of strength, and so that people can't imitate it because they don't have one. We're all still getting into the habit, but Kentarou never let his feet touch the ground. Not since he was little. Shozaku once managed to knock him off it, but he just sort of floated!" Wydra stopped talking as Sheena walked towards them with a pout on her face. The four chatted awhile to pass the time.


	7. Scroll 7

_**Scroll 7: Meetings**_

Meanwhile, Haiko and Kenchi led Skiminachi up to the Hokage's office and Kenchi knocked on the door.

"Hokage-sama, I've brought the person you wanted to speak too…or I think at least one of them…he was with Uzaruki-san downstairs, so I figured he was one of 'em…" Kenchi announced politely before opening the door and moving away to allow the Cook-nin to enter.

Skiminachi entered, Trydna trailing along behind him. He nodded politely to all in the room.

"I'll start mostly with what I know about. About a month ago we had lost pursuit from the two, now combined I think, groups of ninja that had been following us. Trydna has told me that they captured some white haired ninja from your group, and they were trying to stop a pink-haired kunoichi from getting back and telling you. As she got near the borders, she passed the camp we had set up for the ones among our group that wouldn't, and shouldn't, enter the village. They saw her pursuers and intervened on her behalf. I'm pretty sure it's the only reason she's still alive. The rest, information that I am currently unaware of, he can tell you." His hands were on Trydna's shoulders.

"But he has no tongue and does not know how to write, so the only way to speak to him is to enter his mind. I'd ask that somebody else do it, but I don't think they could handle the certain…chaos that resides in his psych." He said as he looked at Tsunade. "If you're willing, all you need to do is make contact."

Tsunade paused a moment, looked at the handful of Nin in the room and then stood out of her chair to walk over to the Mute-Nin, looking at him carefully.

"You say he cannot speak; which is most interesting for a ninja, yet not unheard of. But I will listen to his story." The old Hokage smiled sincerely and placed a hand on his head, her brown eyes gazing steadily into his.

The world around Tsunade would disappear and she'd be standing in darkness, although her own form would be perfectly visible; as was the one next to her. It was a ninja that would be Trydna's build if he had no costume, but he was missing both arms and a lower jaw, and his body was covered in scars. His voice came from him, but his mouth didn't move.

"Hello Tsunade. My name is Trydna, eldest of the Shan-chay clan. Skiminachi was kind when he only said I had no tongue. It would not matter if I did, as the only two things that ground me to sanity are fighting, and a link to another person's mind. Long ago, when I was barely emerging from boy-hood, I reached a point in my…'training' where I regressed into a child-like state. It was made worse when I lost certain parts of me. It would be a good thing if I could say this was the worst thing that has ever been done to us. I have a long list of things I wish to share; but I assume you wouldn't want to stay long. What would you like to know first?"

Tsunade nodded and turned to the psychic-plane made Nin.

"First of all, what just attacked us, and why? Who are you and what brings you to my village?" Tsunade was taking this in stride as she was new to the psychic realm. "Does it pose further danger to the Village?"

"That would be the remaining nins of the Darkness and Twisted villages. Both of their leaders, mine as well, have recently disappeared and I don't think they're dead because lack of evidence. They came in pursuit of us, in hope of capturing us and through torture or other means learning what happened and possibly undoing it. I came because I am with the Wheel village. I defected from the Darkness village after a battle with Kentarou and Shozaku. Chances are; us being here only brings the danger to your village that much faster. They would have eventually expanded their reach onto this continent and attacked."

Tsunade nodded once again, thinking things through as was her forte. "So where are you going to go next?" she asked quietly, biting the nail on her thumb.

"We still haven't decided. We were going to have a meeting after the funeral, and then plan the next step. Our general idea was to travel to the various lands and warn them. We'd also ask if they'd seen anything, and try to unravel the mysterious of our village's disappearance. We might also look for a suitable home for the youngest members of the families; the children that came here last night."

"Yes, I know of those children. Is it possible that they could stay here for a year to train?" Tsunade mentioned.

"Possible. I suspect that is what BaRoKenDo, the next in age of us, wanted to happen for his little sister, Sheena. This town seems safe at least. Although, you may find that her and Gilligan are resistant to normal training methods. They are used to something a bit more…malicious…"

"No need to worry…" Tsunade grinned playfully. She thought of her own training program she put together for that Sakura Haruno girl, and knew it was brutal. "I'm sure some ninja of this village have abnormal ways of training…some of them could very well keep up with those kids…or the other way around. As for this village's support, I can only give you a three or four day's rest, before the locals get restless. I'm sure I'll be more than happy to stock your party with supplies and such. But I am asking, in return, to browse over any maps you might have, and hopefully integrate them into our own. It's a pleasure to learn new things, Trydna-san." Tsunade nodded sincerely and smiled. "Now, how does one get back to one's own world, from here?"

"That could be true of abnormality. With Sheena, the chained little girl, I say this more as a brother than informant. Don't let a male train her, or be alone with her at all if possible. I won't explain why out of respect for her, and I'm sure a smart woman of your age can guess. I'll have Shozaku help me draw up maps later and tell him of your offer and our meeting here. All you have to do is ask, Tsunade-san." and like that, she was seeing back through her own eyes. And Trydna was back to being the person in the seamless suit with arms. Skiminachi nodded.

Tsunade blinked as Trydna released her from the psychic plane and she turned to her desk, writing things down swiftly.

Skiminachi put his hand on Trydna's head for but a moment. He then reached under one of his god-knows-how-many plates of armor and pulled out a bottle of quality sake. He put it on the desk next to where Tsunade was writing and a note on it that read:

'If you're not busy later, maybe we could drink together to a brighter future. Or just drink because it's good sake.'

They then walked out of the office, Trydna clinging atop Skiminachi's back like a little kid doing the whole piggy-back thing.

XXX

Yukari was nodding as she heard the story…the 'god-damned' bunny part intrigued her greatly, but she kept her mouth shut as the story unfolded. "Who is Kentarou, is he your village leader?"

"He was…" Wydra got a little sad after that; then Gilligan spoke up.

"He disappeared six months ago. They all say he died, but I don't think so…" Sheena sat down and thought, listening to the conversation but with something on her mind.

"I see, no body, huh? That means he's still alive. If there is no evidence that he is dead, then he's got to be somewhere. I know because my sister never was found. I say she's a missing Nin, but my ANBU brother thinks differently. He'd never tell me though; something that ANBU does is keep secrets."

Yukari nodded to herself. She did miss Raikanami, but mostly it was a forgotten pain, nearly like Maso's death. She was never one to linger on death and moved on with life. "But my friend's teammate Sasuke, his brother was her fiancée, so I'm hoping he'd know – not that I would go out and talk to a missing nin, which is what the Uchiha are."

"If you want my older brother could find out from your older brother." Sheena spoke timidly.

"Hm?" Yukari was drawn out of her reverie and looked at Sheena. "Naw, that's ok…it's better to have hope then to; sometimes, know the cold truth. I speculate that she had something to do with an event that happened eight or so years ago. I want to become strong enough to find out on my own." she smiled at Sheena and then stood up. "Well, I suppose it's time for me to see what's what in the village or more specifically, to check on my clan house. Meiko-chan's always angry that I'm a chuunin and she's just a genin." Yukari started to walk towards to village.

"Okay. B-bye Yukari!" The children waved, then put their hands together and got really silent. As Yukari walked away, a rather big person moved out from around the tree he'd been waiting behind. Sheena had asked him to wait there because he was scary and Yukari seemed like a nice person. Sheena didn't want her older brother to scare off a potential friend and ally.


	8. Scroll 8

_**Scroll 8: Blooming Rests**_

Yukari would have taken the black-haired Meko, but the cat was making it good, as Wydra was petting him over and over again. Yukari had much to think about, mostly the things that happened to her in the past two days.

As Yukari walked along, the pale ninja named Joma stepped up next to her. "Got much on your mind?"

"Huh, oh, yea I guess...I'm shaken up about that Darkness nin-kid. I've got a lot of training to complete if I'm to get stronger and protect those I want to…" Her red eyes turned towards Joma as she smiled. "It's a bit of cliché, but I'm a lot like my best rival, Naruto-san. But he's got more strength than I do. Otou-sensei just started me on my nature-based chakra training a month ago, so I've got tons more to learn. My element is earth and I'm also a rare wind element…Asuma-sensei, another chuunin teacher, is too busy at the moment to train me, because he's got his own team to think about."

She walked into the village further, seeking out the Med-Center to see who was injured or not. "I mean it's been two years since I had a team, but I got lucky with Otou-sensei, he's so strong!"

"Kid, however strong you may or may not be; don't compare yourself to whomever you might've fought today. If you need more help training, you could always find other people to help train you. And if you're good with wind-based chakra then why are you training much with anything else?" The pale-nin asked in a semi-confused tone.

"Hm…good question…wind-type chakra is, or so Kakashi-sensei told me, a good type for offensive battles…and huh?"

Haiko had appeared again and tapped Yukari on the shoulder; while giving a blatantly snotty look at Joma. It seemed Haiko was quite the asshole. The red-haired Nin spoke softly into her ear and smirked, as yet again, she was to report to the Hokage's office.

"Oh, for crying out loud…did Shozaku-san blow something up or what?" Yukari had to TURN around and walk back towards the Hokage's office and knocked on the door - if Joma-san followed her or not; was up to him.

"I'd watch your face Mr. High-and-mighty before I pump you so full you'd wet yourself. And no, he didn't die; he's just unconscious from putting so much chakra into a single jutsu for so long. I've gotta attend to something anyway." Joma said as he noticed Trydna and Skiminachi leaving the building. He walked up and asked, blatantly:

"So how tough is the Pentagenarian's stomach?" and then the conversation faded out from there unless somebody in specific listened in.

XXX

Yukari smirked to herself and entered the Hokage's office, thankfully Ton-Ton wasn't about to attack her, so it was probably serious business going on in there.

"I'm here, Hokage-sama, I heard you wanted to see me?" Yukari stood there and casually flipped her new pony-tail over her shoulder.

Tsunade looked up from what she was doing and set it aside. She knew Yukari would react badly to the news. The Hokage also wasn't one to try and sugarcoat this sort of thing.

"Yes, I did. I have some rather unfortunate news. Early this morning, I sent Kakashi-san and Sakura-chan off to gather intel and information for me. Earlier today, only hours before the attack, they ran into some resistance. Sakura made it back in time to warn us, but Kakashi…has been captured." Tsunade was ready to restrain Yukari if need be.

Yukari blinked once, before her blood froze in her veins. The same clan of ninjas that the ugly-boy she had faced now had Kakashi-sensei. Since the Hatake had rescued her from Kabuto during the chuunin exams a year and a half ago, she had fallen in a school-girl crush on the Sharingan user. Her emotions raged and froze out of control. The ANBU that was asked (it was Otou-sensei wearing his mask) to standby was standing silently on the left side of the room, ready to administer the seal-chakra jutsu on Yukari if it was needed.

Yukari glanced at the tiger-masked Anbu and let her arms dropped to her sides as her fists clinched tight as she fought to rein in her sudden, icy wave of despair, dread and fear. "Surely…you know where he was captured at? Where is he now?"

Her curse mark was beginning to stir, but it was far from a threat…as of now. The news had hit her like a train. News of the impossible like that had always been one of her weaknesses. Like Raikanami's disappearance, and Maso's death; Yukari was blind-sided when people told her things like this.

"He'll be home tomorrow, right, Tsunade-sama?" Yukari's voice shivered as her fear and rage battled within.

Tsunade took a deep breath, as she too, looked over at the quiet ANBU agent. She would have preferred a more violent reaction, or some sort of outburst. "Sakura-san says they were captured somewhere between here and Sunagakure. We haven't had a chance to find out where he is now yet, we will soon. We can only hope he will be Yukari-san. Kakashi-san is very special to the village, more so to some of us. If you need, you're excused of duties for the rest of the day."

Knowing where Kakashi-sensei was; was the dam that broke the tide. Otherwise Yukari might have exploded with fury and fear. She started shaking and exhaled a forced breath.

"Thanks, Hokage-sama…have…have you decided anything about this whole mess? I mean…those unicycle ninja…where are they going to go next? You didn't promise them my house, did you!" She stared out past the Hokage and through the window, seeing the outside world; pondering if she should go find Kakashi herself. Tsunade, as serious as the moment was; laughed.

"No, I didn't promise any of them your house. They had even offered to fix it for you. Letting anybody into your house is ultimately your decision. As for the rest of it, I have offered to stock them on supplies and that they may stay here for a few more days. The only few that will be staying are the three children you first met. Did you have anything you wanted to say about all of this?" She was referring to the kids, the battle, Kakashi and what would happen next.

"Yea, I do! WHO DO THOSE NINJA BRATS THINK THEY ARE! They scared the CRAP out of me! And just was attacked the village anyway! How strong is it to capture Kakashi-sensei like that! I'm SO going to kick its ass!" She punched her fist onto her other hand and growled. "They worked with shadows, and webbing…but I so kicked ass on one of them! Oh yes, I did…! Uh…" Yukari sweat dropped as she saw the Hokage looking at her very oddly.

"Sorry, I am just nervous and worried about Kakashi-san!"

"That's ok, Uzaruki-san. You are dismissed for now." Tsunade smiled warmly at her. Yukari and the Anbu both bowed and vanished.

XXX

"Where is Shozaku-san?" Yukari asked. "He is ok?"

"Yeah, he's over there having a meeting with Sheena's older brother." Trydna however, was lying next to them curled around a teddy bear. "Do you need to talk to him too? and are you okay?"

She, Sheena and Gilligan had been playing a game with blocks. It was an odd little game; it looked like they were building multi-colored forts with inch cubes. Gilligan transformed, and sat there looking like a plushie-fied version of Yukari. Sheena was just staring at the ground until Trydna reached over a hand and poked her. After that, her eyes tilted up at Yukari.

"Learn something new everyday, ne." Yukari had left the Hokage's office to join the Wheel-Nin. She squatted down and looked at the plushie-fied version of herself – the model was very impressive; and odd enough to throw her out of her panicky, nervous mode.

"Wow…I didn't know my bo- hehehehhee…so, you kids are called Wydra, the girl with the unicycle, and I'm so confused. I thought I had two boys and a girl?" Yukari ran a hand through her hair. "Wydra…what was the name of the ex village again?" Yukari would give that gambler a five minute break before she butted in.

Sheena, normally prone to more physically violent fits of rage, settled for verbal rage this time.

"I'm a girl damn-it!" Her arms, hidden within the chains, folded over themselves. Gilligan, now back in his normal form, pointed and laughed. Wydra laughed when Gilligan bounced into the air from getting stabbed in the butt with a chain from the ground. Wydra turned to Yukari.

"Village of the Wheel. Shozaku says we'll remake it someday, just not today."

Yukari would nod to Sheena and raise her hands up in apology. "Ok, ok, a girl, I get it! Hm. Those chains of yours look really cool…can you control them? Or are they a jutsu?" She nodded to Wydra and took a seat on a stump. "Village of the Wheel, huh, that sounds unique! Do you want to become a Kage for that village?"

"No. Kentarou was our Kage. He died stopping their Kage." Wydra pointed to both Gilligan and Sheena. Sheena started to say something that began with 'good f-' before Gilligan laid a hand over her mouth. Sheena just stared at him, then at Yukari. Wydra kept talking.

"Sheena doesn't really talk much to people she doesn't know. Or…not-attack them, but I asked her not to and her older brother said if she hurt anybody she'd be in trouble. So…she's just being quiet most of the time. She's nice…kinda…" Wydra smiled. Gilligan latched onto Sheena's side, trying in vain to tickle her.

"Ah, so you hang out with another village's kid-ninjas why? Did your land get earth-quaked or something?" Yukari chuckled as Gilligan tried to tickle Sheena. "You three look like a team already…who is your sensei?"

There were a few loud clinking noises, and as Wydra started to talk. Shozaku's voice interrupted Wydra. If one turned to see him, they'd see the tail-end of a black cloak dragging around a tree.

"They're not allowed to say that. Not because they don't know, but because she needs to get into the practice of keeping secrets like a good ninja should. So what's up bishoujo-Yukari?" Shozaku's voice had no tone jest or lust, but the way he referred to her made her think otherwise.

"Ero-gambler-san!" Yukari would laugh as she added the pervert title onto his name. "I understand. I must be tough not being at home. So I guess the Hokage offers one here for you guys, at least for the time being." She stood up and brushed off her shorts and sighed. She was getting pretty tired after all that excitement.

"So…the things that attacked my village…you know 'em or did your girlfriend hire them to track you down, Shozaku-san?" Her statement was ordinary, but she had needled Shozaku back with a retort – her tone was even, yet her words were meant in joke.

"I'm in current need of a girlfriend; would you like to fill the position? Because the big guy over there…" He pointed into the distance to a large group of tables Skiminachi had set up. "…already has his eyes on the Hokage. I'd never believe either of them was over fifty if it wasn't for these babies." Shozaku tapped his eyes. "And yeah, I know all about what happened here today. BaRoKenDo and I are probably the only ones that have a full grasp of the situation. Kids, go bug Skiminachi for food. Trydna, follow your sister and make sure she doesn't try to kill anybody." That last statement should be a joke: should be was the key word, sadly. Shozaku walked up next to Yukari. "So what's going on, babe? We've got a little time to talk before all the food is ready."

This guy certain kept Yukari on her toes socially, and she stared wide-eyed as the kids walked away.

"Uh…girlfriend…they like Hokage-sama! EEEEWWWW!" She would blanch in jest and blush. "Well, she is pretty…inspiring I guess…but it's a jutsu she uses, or so Naruto-kun told me." She laughed a few moments, before continuing. "So who is this…BaRoKenDo guy…have I seen him yet? I'm guessing not…" Yukari was a bit razzled at the moment, so she couldn't think of anything intelligent more to say.

"No, Skiminachi does. He's fifty-seven, and it is a jutsu, so I can see right through it. Kentarou always said I could make some girl happy, but I'm more of an every-girl kind of guy. BaRoKenDo is Sheena's second older brother. Trydna is the oldest. He's also one of the scariest looking people you'll ever see. He's behind that tree over there." He nodded his head to a tree only ten feet behind them. "Listening to our every word. I could tell you were a bit intimidated by size just from meeting Skiminachi, so I asked him to wait around a bit because I'd rather not scare off potential allies. I'm a confusing guy, ain't I?"

Yukari would nod and cant her head sideways and blushed. "I guess so. I've never seen somebody so big. I wasn't scared…REALLY I WASN'T! I was just surprised to see such a tall person!" She shifted her weight from one leg to the next. "So…speaking of allies…those shadow ninjas have my sensei…"

Here she was again, worrying about Kakashi Hatake and if he was ok or not. "I'm an inch away from going out there and kicking their butts for hurting him and Sakura-san!" Her fists clenched at her sides as her Akashingan eyes flared red. "How dare they do that!"

Shozaku nodded. "I can understand how you feel. My sensei, all of ours actually; because it was a small village with a lot of people that needed beginning and advanced training, died recently. We all wish we could just run off and kill them. A few people have tried, they haven't been heard from since. I have nothing against you coming along with us, but that's something you would have to discuss with your Hokage first. Before you do, I think there's something interesting and alarming that you should know." His stomach was audibly growling.

"It THAT what you're talking about!" Yukari pointed and laughed. Here she thought that Naruto's stomach was a contender. "Shozaku-san's hungry! HUNGRY is Shozaku-san!" She sang softly. "Have I told you the story of the Hungry-Nins before?"

"That ninja you fought today, he was ten years old." Shozaku continue on, in seriousness.

"Uh…he was ten! Oh great Leafs of the Sky, A TEN YEAR OLD! I swear I was fighting at least thirty years old, what's up with that?" Yukari followed Shozaku and now she was astounded. "Things just keep getting weirder and weirder: let me guess, he was a Shadow Ninja person…not a pleasant ninja, eh. You just keep bringing the fun…" she sat down next to him and, in the back of her mind, knew she was eating out here for the night.

"Hungry-Nin, right…well the story goes, that is Nin, from some obscure village wanted to challenge the Five Great Ninja Nations and become the strongest ever. But whenever he was on the brink of challenging the Kage of the village; his stomach pained him so much that he had to eat…a LARGE amount of food. He repeated this several times until, one by one, the Villages banished him from their sight, until one day he came to a small, ninja-less village…there he met his match in the ninja some people call the Yellow Flash. It turns out that Ninja taught him that chakra consumes energy. The Hungry Nin did not know that! So the Hungry-Nin begged the Yellow Ninja to train him; but the Yellow Flash refused, saying that the Hungry-Nin must work hard to repay his food debt to the villages that he visited. So the Hungry-Nin promised that he would and to this very day, rumor has it that he is a roaming Ninja for hire, using only nin-jutsus to plant things." Yukari told her story.

"Yes, he was a darkness ninja. Long story short: their leader's an evil son of a bitch; and also the father of seven unfortunate children. Sounds like Skiminachi in his youth. Except for challenging ninja for strength, he challenged chefs to cook-offs. He didn't lose often. So, Yukari, do you crave anything in particular? He can make pretty much anything." Shozaku said as he sat down at a table amongst the various ninja from the Wheel village. Here and there was a few ninja that had the Darkness symbol. Gilligan, Wydra and Sheena were clinging to Skiminachi's legs and all talking up to him at once.

"Well, I love chocolate-fish Ramen! Baka Nee-chan got me addicted to ramen. So I'd love chocolate-fish ramen. The Ichiraku doesn't serve that, but the stand near my place, the Gingko-Tora does; but only once or twice a month." She laughed to herself as she sat next to Shozaku. She was starting to crush on the Gambler and it made her head spin to see just how weird he was. It was like a fresh dose of cold water in the heat of summer. "The Yellow Flash was Hokage once…but he died too…" She stated as an after-thought.

And roughly a minute later, chocolate-fish ramen sat before her. Shozaku already had a plate of noodles and meat that he was scarfing. He had his sunglasses off, revealing that his eyes were brown and green. Skiminachi, a jolly man at heart, relented and just gave the little kids more ice cream. They scampered off to hang out by themselves and eat. A few seconds later, a large shadow passed over the table that Shozaku and Yukari was sitting at, accompanied by heavy footsteps. A deep voice spoke with the Jolly-Ninja-Chef.

"Thanks." It was hard for one word to sound intimidating without a face to match. The deep footsteps continued onward.

Yukari only paused to smile as Skiminachi spoke his one word. Other than that, she was too busy stuffing her face with that delicious chocolate-fish ramen, trying so hard not to make a fool her table-side manners as she slurped down the awesome broth. A few minutes later, Otou-sensei came poking around, looking for his student. He had quickly changed out of his ANBU suit and into his chuunin outfit.

Shozaku noticed Otou and poked Yukari, then pointed behind her. Shozaku was pretty sure he was just looking for Yukari. Skiminachi shouted over to the searching sensei.

"Yo, want some food?" He was starting to put up all of his cooking tools, which all had a place somewhere within his suit of many-plated armor. Joma and Trydna sat down on either side of Shozaku, both eating the same thing. Trydna was eating in that awkward using-some-sort-of-mist way. Otou-senshi smiled at the large man and politely shook his head no.

"Yukari-san, I've come to tell you that your apartment is fixed, and Meko is keeping the workers out. I've paid them already, but I just wanted you to know that your younger sister is looking for you as well."

"Oh, ok, thanks a bunch, Otou-sensei! I'll take care of Meko and Meiko-san." Yukari turned to Shozaku and bowed, straightening up with a smile. "I gotta go now, somehow Wydra-san let go of my cat and my cat is wrecking havoc at my place. I'll see you tomorrow!" She would run off towards the gate and went on into the village.

Joma reached into Trydna's arm, as though it were goo, and pulled out a folder. He just poofed and was standing next to Otou, walking along. He held out the folder to him.

"Could you give this to Tsunade? It has the maps she requested."

Otou-sensei smirked to himself as the energetic Yukari of his scampered off to face her younger sister's wrath. He took the folder and bowed to Joma.

"Thank you, I'm sure the Hokage will be please with this information." The brown-black haired ninja just calmly strode towards the center of the village, holding the folder tightly, so the papers wouldn't fall out. However, as due to his personality, he took out a pencil and started doodling on the blank folder, scenes and events, through his eyes, that had taken place today during the attack. He was no artist-level nin, but his art was clearly depicted and no mere child's doodle. It was almost Picasso-level art, as the shading, and lines were nearly like a highly defined photograph.

The ink began fading out on the folder, as though the folder was soaking up the ink. Disturbingly, what came back into view was another's point of view, as though from its eyes. It showed various parts of the village during the attack, as though following a specific trail. It had even seen Otou at one point, but passed him by as it noticed Yukari and Wydra. It stopped then, as not enough ink had been put down.

Otou stopped walk and looked at the moving drawings on the folder. This was refreshingly fun. His drawings showed not only his P.O.V., but others as well. The paper must have been really special in chakra to do that. He reached the Hokage's office and entered ninja-style: bending the rules of space and matter to enter through a closed door at extremely high speeds.

"Hokage-sama, I've brought a written info folder from the Wheel-Nin, and the folder itself is prone to show scenes if you draw on it."

"Interesting, thank you Otou-sensei." She took the folder and opened it, flipping through it. "I'll try that later when I'm…settling down." Her way of saying 'drinking sake and looking to gamble with somebody.'

"If there is nothing else, you can leave for now…" As she flipped through the folder, if he was looking Otou might see faint outlines of ninja profiles. The pictures themselves seemed to be shielded from his eyes though.

Otou-sensei just shrugged and left the Hokage office, tucking the pen back into his kunai pack and heading home. Whatever the folder contained, it was for the Hokage's eyes alone. If she wanted to share, that would be great, but he was no longer active ANBU; but an undercover agent to keep track of the curse mark on the Uzaruki heir.


	9. Scroll 9

_**Scroll 9: Sleep Over II**_

Almost weightless; a little thumb sized plushie was clinging to Yukari's heel as she went back into town. Wydra and Sheena were looking all over camp for him, but Gilligan was nowhere to be seen.

Yukari made her way back to where it all started: her place. As good as Otou-sensei's word, her wall was as good as new. Meko was sitting calmly in the open window as the paint inside and out was drying.

"Meko, I heard you are a bad kitty!" Yukari light-heartedly scolded her cat.

The now-brown cat just lifted its head and yawned, settling back down on the windowsill, stealing the last of the sunbeams as the sun set. Inside there was a voice as another person threw open Yukari's purple door.

"ONEE-SAMA! THERE you are!" A smaller-sized Yukari stood fuming in the doorway; but her face and hair were noticeably different.

Meiko's Akashingan eyes slanted more than her sister's, yet still were boldly red. The young girl's hair was black with a brown sheen and short; short enough for the girl to not need anything to restrain it. The nearly genin girl wore a black and blue shirt and shorts; black sandals and scarf-turned belt, red in color.

"WHAT the BUGGER happened today! Our class was _planning_ on going on a _mock-mission_, but Taiko-sensei took us to a safe house because the village was being attacked!" The girl hissed her distaste. "I was looking forward to today's class too!"

It was a funny sight, as a shorter version of Yukari stood there, arms on her black-shorted hips, glaring at a taller, mature-er version of herself.

Gilligan, in his thumb-sized plushie form, looked at Meko and crawled a little into Yukari's pant leg. He didn't want to be attacked or discovered, at least not yet. He had a feeling about the Yukari person that his friends had been talking about. A good feeling; like he'd known her from somewhere or in some way.

"Relax, Meiko-san, it was an attack drill, no big deal. I had to go to a safe house too and…" Yukari lied as she sweat dropped, inching her way towards the open door. If she could just get in and triple bolt the door, she'd be safe from her Hanabi-wanna-be sister and from explaining why Meiko's class had skipped the mock-mission. The lengthening shadows cast on Meiko, age 8, made her look even scarier since her younger sister was as friendly as a pissed-off porcupine in the summer.

"RELAX! THE HELL can I relax when they shuffle me to safety at every hint of danger, Onee-san! I want to become a NINJA here, and YOU say relax!" Meiko shouted, drawing attention from the scant passer-bys that were wrapping up their evening business. "I'M A STINKING GENIN, Onee-san, I want to see some STINKIN ACTION HERE! To get OUT of the village and GO places!"

"Meiko-san…be careful what you wish for…" Yukari was about to attempt to calm her raging sister down. The funny looks Yukari was getting were grating on her nerves. Meko jumped to the rescue and landed on Meiko's head, taking the wind out of the younger girl's sails.

Gilligan sent off a little plushie-clone to run along the floor, pretty sure that none of the Uzarukis were looking down. He did this, hoping it would reach Meiko's foot before Meko went for it. His goal was to make Meko go crazy all over Meiko, so Yukari could get to wherever she was going. So far, all the little girl had done was complain, she didn't seem nice at all.

XXX

A few minutes later, after they had gotten permission from Shozaku, the two other kids went exploring for Gilligan. Sheena trailed along behind Wydra, trying to avoid people's stares and ignoring any comments they might have. Wydra and Sheena spotted a tiny ball of fluff on the ground, a signature of Gilligan's. They followed the trail is it led towards the Kenkon district.

XXX

Yukari was on the receiving end of her younger sister's whining and complaining. It was hard on Yukari that her own older sister, Raikanami was not around anymore, so it fell to Yukari to fill the older-sister role. So far, all she got was a whiny, bitchy kid sister that had a high-and-mighty attitude. Yukari swore she could fill a lake with Meiko's attitude. The fact that the Hyuuga Hanabi was Meiko's best friend helped matters none. Yukari didn't mind; Hanabi she could handle; it was Neji and the rest of the Hyuuga (minus Hinata) that made her terrified with nervousness. But right now it was Meiko, with her adopted Hanabi-attitude, that she had to deal with. It was freakier still, upon learning that her own father, Hibachi, was great friends with Hinata and Neji's fathers.

"Look, Meiko-san, I'm sure there was a perfectly good reason for you and your class to miss a mission and get piled into a safe house. Your sensei knows how to keep you safe and allows you to learn things. Like how to swiftly evacuate the village in just such crisis!"

Yukari ended her statement in astonishment as Meko yowled and virtually climbed downward Meiko's shirt to get to her knees. You guessed it; Meko had spotted the unfortunate plushie clone and was poised for attack.

Attack Meko did, his claws out and slashing at Meiko's capri-pants, trying to flush out the little teddy bear. It had a score to settle from before and hell would freeze over before Meko would let the Teddy-Bear grudge go.

Meiko screamed as the cat launched its attack, and Yukari stepped backwards in surprise.

"Meiko! Meko! What in the name of Hokage is going on!"

Gilligan smiled, and poofed the mini-teddy out of existence. If Meiko was a smart cat, it would know that it had just been fooled, and rather badly. Chances were that this sort of thing was going to turn into a cat and mouse like grudge between them. Gilligan stayed absolutely still, not wanting Meiko to find his actual location.

Hearing the commotion, they guessed that he had something to do with it. Every time he got comfortable in some place he started causing a little mischief in some way, trying to find his own little niche. It had happened several times, and had gotten them kicked out of a couple of villages along the way here. They weren't too upset with him, but they'd be really mad if he did it again. Wydra knocked on Yukari's door while Sheena circled the apartment.

Fortunately, Meiko threw the cat off and had stomped away, crying to herself. She was a tad bit spoiled, if one wanted to label Meiko. She wasn't always like that, but as she turned eight and entered her last year of the academy, she got snooty. Yukari prayed that Meiko would iron out in the future and become much nicer.

But by the time the other two had knocked on Yukari's door, Meiko and Meko were seconds gone and Yukari had just shut the door for the night.

"Eh, just a moment." Yukari turned off her oven and opened the door. "Oh, hey Wydra-chan, what are you doing here?"

"Mind if we sleep over? Shozaku said we have to stay here anyway and you're really nice…please?" she looked up at her with her best attempt at puppy eyes, swishing her foot in the dirt, holding her hands together. Sheena poked her head down from the top of the door frame and spoke:

"Besides, Gilligan's already here…"

"Uh, sure I guess, if you promise not to knock a hole in a wall or whatever…" Yukari smirked herself as she finally spotted the tiny teddy. Strands of her hair slowly snaked towards it, seeing if she could catch it off guard and snag him. "Aren't there two more of you, Wydra-san? A team of three is best…"

XXX

Meiko was sulking and wincing as the cat scratches were pulled at by her leg muscles. She hated cats, loved birds, hated foxes and loved dogs. Kiba-sensei was cooler, but he wasn't her teammate, nor was Akamaru her dog. If her sister Yukari had a bond with Naruto, Meiko had a bond with Kiba or the Inuzuka Clan. Now she was running home to her father to whine about how Yukari's stupid cat attacked her. Yea, she acted spoiled, but it was a stage, a childhood event that some kids went through in their ages. Meiko wanted to be instantly strong and become an awesome ninja like Kiba and Akamaru. But for now, she was a pre-genin stuck with academy class.

An eye popped open from a wall nearby Meiko, following her. It closed and a lumpy shape could be seen following her trail, whether it was in the wall or on the ground. Something was following her.

A large and misshapen arm began reaching out of the wall, its almost demonic hand slowly making its way towards Meiko. It didn't look to be attached to a body, but there was an eye in the wall following her progress. If nobody soon intervened, very bad things could happen very quickly.

XXX

Wydra pointed up at Sheena's visible spiky head. Gilligan poofed back into existence on Yukari's side; hugging her and nuzzling her like she was a teddy bear herself. He was a weird one indeed. Wydra stepped in, as Sheena crawled along the roof by way of using chains.

"We're not officially a team yet…do you take a test for that sort of thing? We've done a lot of stuff together though. Do you have a team Yukari?" Wydra sat down on the floor in front of her while Sheena crawled off to explore the rest of the building. Gilligan was firmly attached to her side. Yukari laughed heartily as the odd-bunch trio swarmed, more or less, into and over the apartment.

"No, I guess you don't have to take a test to become a team, but in this village, you are assigned to one…judging on individual skills. I had a team once…" here she sat down on her rather old green and yellow flame-print (hot as hell in design) black-leather couch and smiled at Gilligan.

"But, alas, I wasn't strong enough back then to keep them alive. It was a really tough day for me…the ninja that attacked us were jounin from another village. I was no match for them even if I wanted to be…they were just too fast. Sudokari Misaruki and Yuro Maso were their names. Team 13 included two girls and a guy." Yukari looked sad as she thought back on it all. "I later found out that my sensei, Jamaru Akanchi, hated my guts and wanted to sell me to the highest bidder." Shaking her head, she snapped out of it. "He is…was…is a traitor to this village, and no longer my sensei. Now I train like crazy with Otou-sensei and that silver-haired ninja you saw yesterday, Kakashi-sensei. They make me happy and strong. Of course the strong part is my thanks, I won't ever give up to Naruto-chan!"

XXX

Meko, although having went ballistic on Meiko, had followed the snooty-girl as she went home. The black cat slinked through the shadows silently and watched the red-eyed youngling sniffle and cry over her weak scratches. Meko was indeed a ninja-trained animal, but the reason he was abandoned was that he was the essence of cat-like friskiness and had refused to listen to 7.9/8ths of the orders given. Hailing, as a kitten, from the Village Hidden in the Rain, the cat had run away to Konoha and had staked the Uzaruki Clan as his property. Now he was looking oddly at the misty hand and decided to do something. Meko grew larger, his fangs and claws growing longer too. He jumped onto the hand and hissed.

The eye swiveled and noticed Meko going for its arm. It didn't retaliate, but whipped itself back into the wall and disappeared so that if Meiko turned around all she would see is Meko in attack mode looking in her direction. Whatever it was, it was an evil bastard or just really, really mean.

Meiko spun around and nearly impaled the poor cat with a kunai. Meko screeched and ran away; totally miffed that Meiko had tried to harm him. Meiko muttered an unheard apology and walked over to pick her kunai up. If she learned even one thing from her sister, it was that never leave your ninja weapons or tools lying around.

Not quite its goal, but some damage done, the eye closed after a brief look and moved on. It would see what else it could do by morning.

XXX

"Oh…I don't think Sheena would work well with others. She says Gilligan's not much of a guy so he doesn't count. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you sad!" Now she was clinging to her as well. Sheena was just sort of sitting there. Her spiked-helmet was somehow gone, leaving a bunch of frizzy-balled up helmet hair in its place. Her hair should have been smooth and black. Wydra kept talking.

"Oh. Do you know what kind of lady could help train us?"

"Naw, that's ok, Naruto-chan taught me that staying sad is wrong. You gotta train to get stronger to protect the ones you care for. And I'm doing that!" Yukari laughed and hugged both Gilligan and Wydra. "Hey, nice hair, Sheena…looks really dangerous…do you use it in fighting?"

"No…it's just like that from wearing my helmet all the time. I don't use my hair for anything really. It's been…awhile since I took it off. I use the chains for fighting though." It was a slow start, but Sheena seemed to be interested in the conversation. There was a way to connect with her and not be her age. Gilligan blinked, and walked off into another room. Wydra shrugged and continued to stay latched onto Yukari.

"Cute-Chan, that's my bathroom, if you gotta go, please shut the door…" Yukari laughed again and settled in for the night. "Well, you kids got any sleep clothes? I have a few spare long shirts, but that's about it…"

If Shozaku had seen what she slept in – just plain, white shirt that went down her knees - he'd probably have a nosebleed and a few naughty ideas.

Wydra blinked. "We're supposed to sleep in different kinds of clothes? I usually just sleep in my pants. Sheena doesn't do anything special for sleep, she just does." Wydra was talking about the chains that encompassed Sheena's body.

XXX

Gilligan, meanwhile, had left the house altogether via bathroom window. He was now wandering the streets on all fours, sniffing around like some sort of animal. He found Meko, and blinked, sniffing at him.

XXX

"Well, you can is you want too, do those chains come off or what, Sheena-san?" Yukari asked curiously. "I've also got a few extra pillows that came from I don't know where." She got up and went over to small closet by her bedroom 'room.' It wasn't so much an enclosed room with a door; it was sectioned off by a raised floor as well. Yukari opened the closet and a few bucketfuls of toys toppled out. More than few of them were wooden shuriken, toy swords and rag dolls. A yo-yo and a slinkie rolled over by Sheena. Yukari stood there, red-faced and hand on her forehead.

"I forgot I had a toy collection that kids throw at my window…" The kunoichi's face nearly matched the color of her eyes. "It's a game for them to see if they can throw the toy into my window. I normally give the toys back, but not recently…"

Wydra picked up the yo-yo and blinked.

"I think Joma used to use these before he learned to use nunchaku." she threw the slinky at Sheena. Sheena caught it with her teeth and dropped it, watching it roll around. She poked at it with her foot, before looking up to answer Yukari.

"No. I can retract them a bit, but they never come out. Daddy made sure of that when I was two." Sheena answered in a soft voice.

Yukari had the oddest look on her face as she watched Sheena poke the slinkie with a toe. She began to snicker, her red eyes full of mirth. Getting a hold of herself before she lost it, Yukari smiled before making her way over to the couch, throwing down two pillows that she had pulled out of the closet.

"You two are so funny. Here are your pillows…"

Wydra giggled and grabbed her pillow, falling over onto it. Sheena poked the slinky until she got thwapped with a pillow. Her chains slowly wrapped around the pillow until it was held against her back and propped her head up. She leaned against the wall with the pillow in between and closed her eyes, falling asleep instantly.

"Can you do that Yukari? I want to; Sheena says she doesn't know how to tell me." Wydra paused as she yawned.

"Do what? Control hair, string or wire? Or the Yo-Yo Nunchaku thing? I've never trained with a weapons-item master before, but they can use anything to fight with. But I use shuriken, kunai and the normal ninja tools. Ack, my brain is on the sleep-mode…" Yukari made a quick dash to the bathroom, after grabbing cloths out of her dresser and closed the door. A few seconds later, running water could be heard as Yukari was grooming herself for the night.

Wydra spoke as Yukari moved about. "Joma can fight with any weapon, mostly his hands. He said it was a taijutsu specialist…he has this thing where he can't do jutsus…but he can release his chakra in a sort of boom, or pass it into other people. He also said it never stops building, so he does it every night so he doesn't 'splode. I think he's lying about the last part. Hey, wasn't Gilligan in there?" She meant Gilligan being in the bathroom.

"Well, he's…BETTER NOT BE IN HERE, I'm CLEANING UP!" Yukari's surprised voice could be heard through the closed door. "I better not catch you peeping, you crafty little plushie-kid. If I do, I'll flush you…and believe me, that wouldn't be fun…for you at least…" Yukari yammered on for the next couple minutes until the door opened and she stepped out, clad in an overly white shirt and black boxer-type shorts. She stood there, an evil grin on her lips as her right hand held a black, visible strand of her hair. "Guess what…" a dramatic 'flush' sound was heard as she tugged on the strand of hair.

"Darn, you're too smart for me to trick…" Yukari sweat dropped as her scare-tactic failed miserably. It was just as well; she wouldn't flush a kid, even if he WAS in a transformation jutsu.

"Yea, I'm going to bed…last night was really hard on me…" Yukari rubbed the lower portion of her back.

The curse mark that Kabuto had replaced her Uzaruki tattoo with didn't hurt at the moment and wasn't going to act up anytime soon. Good thing; the hormonal curse surfacing tonight was the **last** thing Yukari wanted or needed. Not only would it scare the shit out of the kids, it would bring the ANBU down on her newly fixed apartment. So she turned the back-rubbing action into a forced, fake stretch as she lumbered over to her bed. Meko was still nowhere to be seen as she closed her window for the night. The sun had now set and night bugs were starting up their god-sent symphony.

"You guys ok for now?" The red-eyed kunoichi would ask.

"Yeah. Gilligan will wander in whenever. He's usually pretty quite at night. Thanks Yukari. You're a nice lady." Wydra yawned again and curled up a little tighter around Sheena's legs.

Yukari smiled a small smile and tossed the sheets up over her body as she crawled into bed.

"Sleep well, Chibi-Nins."


	10. Scroll 10

_**Scroll 10: Meiko's Trouble**_

Meiko continued to mutter all the way home and barely greeted her parents and younger sister, Mai, before stomping down the traditional wooden-style floor and slamming her rice-paper door to her bedroom shut.

"Pssst." a bodiless voice spoke to Meiko in her room.

"Tch!" Meiko had flopped down onto her mat-bed and when she heard the voice speak, she was up on her feet in seconds.

"Mai-onee-chan, I swear, if you're trying to play a trick on me, I'll cut your fingers off." Yea, real miss-cool girl there.

"That sounds pretty mighty of you. It's not Mai. Just me. I heard you wanted to be strong, right?" An eye opened up in the wall, but rather than evil it did its best to look friendly and inviting. It winked at her.

Meiko blinked at the eye and smirked.

"Just who do you think you are? I AM strong! And I'll only become stronger than onee-san and then I'll show her and that stupid cat of hers!" Meiko proceeded sneer at the eyeball. "Are you an eyeball monster?"

"A monster?" The voice laughed. "No, but I am rather good at using my eyes. Do you want to be stronger than you are now? Stronger than…your sister and that infernal cat?"

"YES! I want to be stronger than my sister and that cat! Where do I sign up?" Meiko stood up now and had the fire of strength burning in her red eyes. "I wanna kick that stupid cat's butt twice over!"

"Such ambition! I love it. I don't have anything with me, but you can join up just a little outside the village and we can start training there. Would you like to start now? Remember, the quicker you start, the faster you can beat the kitty." The person laughed at how easily this child was swayed.

"Great! I am so ready!" Meiko opened another rice-paper door and leapt through the next room and into the grassy backyard where a bamboo water-tube clunked down onto the rock and spilt its watery payload before tilting back up to catch yet more water. Meiko found her rather cliché-loaded clan house to be sickening. Not only did it half-way mirror the Hyuuga Clan houses; it was so old-fashioned, that Meiko begged to move out to the newer places. She wasn't a priestess, or a recluse, so why did her family live in a daimyo-like clan house? She had no answer for that. Meiko smirked to herself as she made her way towards the village gate.

XXX

Elsewhere, Tsunade began reading over profiles of all the major Darkness ninja, and some of the Twisted ninja. She pulled out the bottle of sake Skiminachi had given her earlier, along with a cup. It was getting late, time to start calming things down.

Shozaku was strolling through the village, trying to find Tsunade's office building. He was bored, had a deck of cards, and missed having somebody to talk to. He was also new at this whole 'leading' thing and wanted a little advice…or just tales of personal experience from somebody that was good at it. Eventually, he got to the building. If no resistance was met, he knocked on Tsunade's door.

"Come in. I'm not busy, nor am I drinking." Tsunade quickly hid the bottle of sake under her desk and straightened her hair.

Shozaku opened the door and walked in, laughing. "You are and we both know it. Cards?" He held up the deck of cards he was holding. Since, at the moment, he wasn't planning on gambling for anything in particular, he had brought a clean deck of cards. This meant that he didn't have any marked way of cheating.

"I'd love to!" Tsunade grinned evilly as she pulled that sake bottle back out.

"Pick a game, any game. I guarantee you'll lose them all." He smiled, pulling off his sunglasses and setting them aside. Shozaku sat on the ground and started shuffling the cards. It was almost like a show; as he did shuffled in fancy ways and did shuffled well.

"Strip Poker…" Tsunade laughed as she pushed the pile of paperwork onto the floor. Shozaku coughed in surprise, looking up.

"Gods be praised; I wish I'd brought my cheating deck. As it is, I'll have to resort to old-fashioned tricks of the eye." He was pretty sure the busty woman was joking. If she was serious then, as awesome as that would be, he was only 20, and she was two and a half times his age, Shozaku would have to decline.

"How about just regular poker?" the Gambler blushed.

"I agree; loser buys the winner breakfast tomorrow morning." Tsunade walked to the door and made sure Shizune wasn't walking down the hall. The aide wasn't in sight, which meant she was off to bed, good. Tsunade wanted to have fun tonight. "Why don't we go to the local casino and play there?"

"If you say so. People in groups tend to get angry when I catch them cheating. If we play anything together, and if you do cheat; I suggest not hiding a card or anything any spot you wouldn't want me seeing…" He took a swig from a bottle of something he had brewed himself. "So were you looking out for somebody just now? I thought the leader could do whatever she wanted?"

"Oh, it's nothing, Shozaku-san, let's just buy a few drinks, loosen up and have some fun." Tsunade smiled as she looked out the window to the darkening sky. "It's been a while since I've had a chance to relax here…"

The two walked out of the Hokage's building and into the night.

"Yeah. Kentarou always liked this place best. He never got to meet you though, but he had heard a lot of good things. So, what first?" He asked, waving a hand to most of the casino. "Gambling, games, or drinks?"

"I know you've been traveling for a while now it seems and you've picked a good spot to take a rest stop for a bit. Konohagakure is great." Tsunade was loosened up slightly now and was enjoying herself. "What did you do while traveling?"

"I've spent the last six months searching for Wydra and skirmishing various ninja, find her, have another battle. I could use a little down-time."

"Well down-time it is!" Tsunade led the way to a slow-traffic-ed casino and just walked right into like she owned the place – she technically didn't, but she was still Hokage so she flaunted it to a degree.

She and the gambler launched in on games of poker, and other casino games, and began to forge a friendship that would last well into the night and beyond.

XXX

"Are you part of those freaky ninjas that came to the village today? The ones that Onee-san played with?" Meiko had slipped out of the gate and was making way for the nearest training place: team 1 grounds. "Those ninja are freaky weird."

"We could be. Your sister fought one of us. She didn't win though. Want us to show you how to win? Be stronger than her?" He laughed on the inside. The child had no idea just how right it was when she said 'freak.'

"Come on, this way." a finger, covered in a black material, rose up out of the ground and pointed farther away from the village. "That's where we've got camp set up."

Meiko grinned to herself as she followed the beckoning hand. "What's your name anyway, mister hand?"

"You can call me James. Can I ask you something Meiko? Are you a person that scares easily? Oh, we're almost there…" he slowed down. He was using this as a set-up; for normal people, it was pretty hard to be weird-ed out or scared by pretty much the entire family except for Gilligan. People would keep thinking the was cute until he hit puberty, just as they had with the rest of the family.

"Not really, I mean if you're not a ghost or a flesh-eating zombie or that idiot sharkman, then I don't scare." Meiko chuckled to herself. "Or if you're not a giant snake or a big cockroach, then I'm not afraid of you." Meiko followed the hand as she spoke.


	11. Scroll 11

_**Scroll 11: Nightly Attacks**_

Meanwhile, the Meko that Inu-Gilligan sniffed was just a cardboard cut-out. WTF? Since when did cats know how to cut things! So where was Meko now?

Gilligan blinked, jerking his head back a little when it turned into a cardboard cut-out. He kept on crawling a bit until he caught a certain scent. He then started making his way toward the main gate. All around him, little teddy bears started popping out of the ground, walls, even the rooftops. Gilligan was good at tracking things, even more so with help. They were all silent, but would be a very disorienting sight if anybody noticed them. Cute as he was, there was a very determined look on his face.

Meko had left a stupidly stupid trail of cat-tracks. He was irked at Meiko and showed it. The presents would be found by some unfortunate person in the morning, but Meko didn't care. He owned the whole frigging village. Oh well. As the brown-pepper and white cat sauntered towards to front gate, he didn't know he was being tracked.

Gilligan transformed into one of the teddy bears himself. He then pointed towards the gates and pumped a fist into the air. All of the teddy bears rushed in a single file line towards the gate, their little feet making tiny pitter-patter noises that human ears would think of as nothing more than rats. Meko should be able to tell the difference though. They weren't running at him, but they were running in his general direction.

Meko's ears pricked forward; away from the hapless bug he was stalking.

"My, my, my; that's a lot of rats. I hope they aren't from the Rat Village…" Meko chortled to himself as he left the bug and went after the little pitter-patter of feet. Meko knew the footsteps were too cushioned for rats, so this might prove, for him, to be most interesting. "Come on out, my hapless running mystery, I won't hurt you…much." Meko sang softly as he closed in to the noise.

The line of teddy bears rushed by Meko; and continued towards the city gate. One changed back into Gilligan and looked at Meko. Gilligan then twisted, halfway down the spine, all the way around so he was looking at Meko face-to-face, but Gilligan's face was upside down. "You're a strong kitty."

"And you, Teddy-Bear nin…are most…intriguing. You were the one on the Uzaruki whelp, were you not?" Meko had blinked his fabulously gold-green and blue eyes at the human. "You were also the one that I played with yesterday. Do not deny it, I remember your scent." He shook his whiskers and smirked to the world.

"Come on, you can help me." He grabbed Meko and tossed him onto his back, pulling a 180 and dashing off. He ran up the line of teddy bears, almost absorbing them into himself. With each one he got back, he got a little bigger. He eventually just ran through the village gate, barely fitting through. Either way, if Meko was still on it would be an odd experience. Him riding somebody else; Meko yowled rather piteously as the Teddy-child grabbed his royal body and ran off.

"CAT-NAPPED! I'm being cat-napped by a teddy-child, ooh the humanity…" Meko was pretty hilarious as he did nothing to escape or draw attention to himself. It wouldn't matter anyway: only those that Meko wanted to hear, heard his voice; the other humans, just heard annoying cat hisses. "Cat-napped and taken to where, O Teddy-san?" Meko went limp in Gilligan's grip, making the scene look oh so gut-bustingly funny; like Meko was a piece of paper fluttering in the wind.

XXX

"Well then, Meiko dearest, here we are, so close yet so undetected. Well, the Twisted ninja are. The Darkness can't be close or that traitor Trydna detects them. Are you really sure you're not afraid? Well, time to prove you're a big girl." Two large, gnarled hands rose out of the ground a little in front of her, as if widening a hole.

The disembodied arms reached out and pulled the person out of the inky hole. The person was sort of tall at 6ft even, and looked to be a dried-blood color. His skin was knotted and twisted, and his joints looked a bit misshapen, as if somebody had grabbed a skeleton and shaken it badly. His hair was tied back in a giant spiky ponytail. There were various stitches all over him. He turned around, and he had a normal set of eyes. Then the rest of them opened, revealing he had a ring of eyes that went all around his head in a circle. He knelt down and held out a hand.

"Are you sure you're brave enough to keep going? Or would you like to go back to where your sister is stronger?" He was enjoying his taunting of such an idiotic girl.

"Ew, you're gross looking, that's so nasty…" Meiko wasn't afraid, but she sure was disgusted. She covered her eyes and wondered if his eyes had colors. She slowly took her hands off her Akashingan eyes and her weak genjutsu was in place. James wore a normal navy-blue bodysuit and had on shoes. Imagine that, a kid strong enough to trick herself into a genjutsu. That was pretty darn strong; or clever.

"What happened to you? You look like a messed up something at a tornado spit up."

"Have you had that birds and the bees talk? Or whatever your parents call it; when our bodies started changing it was much more dramatic. If you wish to hide the truth from your eyes for now, I will let you do so. There will come a time when you can not." He turned around and continued walking, disappearing behind a tree. "Here is our camp, Meko-san. Join us if you wish. Training will begin as soon as you want, if you still want to."

Meiko snorted, trying to enhance her toughness. "So, you don't wear clothes? How dull is that?" She motioned to her own appearance. A navy-blue shirt and black shorts complete with green sandals. "Clothes are SO fun. You need to find some that you like." She nodded and followed James to his camp, smiling like a kid getting toys.

"I wear a pair of pants. If you wish to keep those clothes in good shape, you should find another pair. Training with us is rather…grueling." He put emphasis on the 'us' part. It was always so much fun when he made them ask, then they blamed themselves when they found out. James was standing in the middle of a field, occupied by a closely-knit together bunch of trees and shrubs; all of them things that shouldn't be here.

"So you want me to go back and get another pair of clothes? Tch…what a waste of time. Why not just train me now, this very minute, instead of me going back and getting changed? What is up with these stupid bushes anyway? Are you going to stupid rape me or something? Not very smart for an adult, are you, James…a ninja comes prepared…" Meiko had slipped a trio of kunai into her hand; and they sat between her fingers, like claws.

James tapped the ground. A few of the bushes just poofed, and zooming shapes burst out of them and off into the night. James laughed. "Child, if I wanted sex I would have gotten it in your room while you slept. Very well, if you are that eager to start, strike me now."

Meiko narrowed her eyes and propelled herself forward, reaching out with her kunai-laced hands, aiming for his ugly, spotty kneecaps with the tip of her third and fourth finger-ed kunai claw. It was a feint, and she surged her energy into her arm and made it go upward towards his face.

XXX

Gilligan slid to a halt as a few nameless ninja slid into view in front of him. Then a severely malformed person just sort of faded into view. If Meko was experienced, he would know it was just a genjutsu wearing off. The person wore only a belt that had a strap that covered his crotch. He seemed to be missing a few layers of skin off the top of his entire body, and he had no eyelids. His hair looked like dolls hair almost, it was so thin. His body parts didn't match, like he'd been pieced together.

"Gilligan; you traitor! You knew what the plan was, and you didn't listen. You've avoided us for six months, and we know you know that. Now you stand before me with some cat upon your back, and are attempting to undo a plan of ours. Give us a reason that we should not kill even you, our brother…"

All that escaped Gilligan's mouth was a demonic growling noise. Meko knew they had a very tense situation indeed.

"Hm, very useless human-puppets, I suppose it would be wasteful to standing around and do nothing, am I correct, Teddy-chan." Meko had wriggled up Gilligan's back and now was perched on his head, those duo-colored feline eyes gleaming with internal light.

"I find these – things – to be offensive. Shall I dispose of them, Teddy-kid?" Meko was never one to use the kinder side of the -chan suffixes of nicknames. He was a cat after all, and cats were most high in the world. It wasn't that Meko hated Gilligan, no; the now hissing cat found Gilligan amusing, and thus an object worth paying attention to.

Gilligan cleared his throat. "You can't kill me – you're only stalling." He grabbed Meko off his back and threw him at them. He was pretty sure Meko could defend himself to a decent extent. It helped that Meko was now surrounded in a cloud of Meko-like plushies that mimicked his moves. Gilligan had fallen into hundreds of little teddy bears that were now rushing the enemy, all of them with red eyes, fanged mouths and claws; all in semblance to a little kid's nightmare.

Meko was like flying death, his claws left deep lacerations where he touched. The black cat landed, on his feet of course, and pounced back towards another nin, this one slightly less hideous than the two before. His fur began to crackle and glow with chakra, as it raced through his small feline body. Claws and fangs bit deep into skin, tearing chunks out as they retreated. Meko was pissed now. He had been insulted by these puppet-rejects and they were going to pay. Nobody called him a 'some cat'.

XXX

The ugly James head tilted backwards with a sickening cracking noise, and as Meiko moved up to stab at his head, his chest thrust out and slammed into her. He laughed.

"That was a decent attempt for a beginner." His head snapped back into place. He just smiled at her, wondering what she would try next. If she were more experienced, she would know they had a silencing field around them, no sound in or out.

Meiko threw her left hand of kunai at the man and lowered herself to the ground, placing that left hand on the darkened ground. She drew a circle and a small symbol in the dirt as her fingers collected the mud and dirt. She then shot up and brought her fist back down to punch the symbol. The ground rocked as a fissure grew like a snake towards James, hoping to trap him in the earth, or at least trip him up.

The Kunai went straight into James left shoulder, and sunk in just a little too deep than it should have for the force it was thrown. James went straight into the ground up to his waist. He just sort of smiled at her. "Not very observant are you girl? Remember how I first met you? And how I came out of the ground?" he just sort of sank into the ground even more. The last part of him, as he sank, was a hand of his that did a jutsu. A ring of eyes floated around the clearing, going in a circle, all focused on Meiko. They did nothing for now.

Meiko snarled as she launched a kunai barrage in a 360 degree circle, hoping to hit the eyes and put them out of commission. She was starting to get a little wierded out now, and wanted to go back home to her warm bed. "What's wrong, are you running away already?"

The eyes just shot out a bolt of lightning at each of the kunai. James voice could be heard from all around her, as if the eyes acted as speakers.

"Why would I run away? All I did was a normal trick; an everyday habit. It is something that I do when I sneak into other villages and persuade kids just like you to leave them. Those eyes; they're a defense circle. It would take somebody much stronger than you to get out of them. You're trapped. And it's all. Your. Fault." He emphasized those last few words. His hands had slowly, and quietly, snaked out of the ground and were now gripped tightly around Meiko's hands. "And now, all we have to do is wait."

XXX

The ninja that Meko attacked got ripped up. His arms came off, as well as a leg. Gilligan leapt at his brother with arms wide open, hoping to end it early and trap him up. The Nin just rolled out of the way, straight in front of Meko, and as he rolled the body parts stuck to him. As he stood, they re-assembled themselves on his body, so he now had an extra set of arms and his legs were like a tripod. He just grinned and his hands blurred in jutsu. The body that Meko had sliced up glowed as a symbol on its chest flashed. There was brief second for Meko to get out of the way before it blew up.

Meko launched his feline body off the shredded body with grace and spun like a saw away from it as it exploded. This wasn't going to be a walk in the Konoha Dog Park at all. He landed on his feet again and took a quick look around to see if the Teddy-Nin was up to anything.

Gilligan paused for just a moment as a look of deep consideration crossed his eyes. He then latched onto Meko's back, and something incredibly creepy and disgusting happened. He kind of just melted all around Meko, and molded onto his body. His voice could be heard in the feline's ear.

"Don't just rip him apart, try and shred him. This might be confusing, but I'm like a part of you now. You move and attack, I'll help. I'll explain later." The other one, meanwhile, got wide-eyed and roared:

"WHEN DID FATHER TEACH YOU THAT?" and rushed at them, all four hands doing simultaneous jutsus.

Meko smiled to himself as the boy did whatever. As long as Teddy-San didn't think to fight AGAINST Meko's royal person, then the cat would be more than happy to go on a murderous rampage against the others. And that Meko did. Sparing no hesitation, Meko extended his claws to the fullest, and now that child was out of harm's way, Meko went into over-kill, growing to the size of a bicycle, the cat launched all out, tearing limbs from sockets and shredding anything he got his claws into.

Before he could complete his jutsu, Meko had jumped him. He was torn up, and rather horribly. All the while he had a snarl on his face. As Meko acted, the mold on his body reached out and grabbed what was attacked, what was torn and what was shredded. Surprisingly, moments later, it was over. The body was nowhere in sight. With nothing more than a poof, Gilligan was standing in front of her, watching the last ninja run off. He turned around and looked Meko in the eyes. For now, he was silent, wondering what Meko would make of all this.

XXX

Meiko snarled once again and then tried to fight against the things that held her hands down. She couldn't do hand signs or any jutsus; big mistake on her part. Her panic began to rise, making its way from her stomach into her throat, making her breath catch.

"I t…I thought you said you were from the ninjas that Onee-san found today…you lied to me! What do you hope to gain by lying to me, you traitorous idiot!" Meiko hissed out, trying not to break down and shiver.

"Oh. We are. But the difference is that we found her. We weren't even going for her. And how am I a traitor? I had no alliance with you; there was no pact between us. You followed me out here because you were jealous of your sister; a person who has been through more than you. You think you should be stronger than her? Think that single night of training would make you surpass her level? Ha!" By this time, he had risen a bit more out of the ground and was standing behind her. He leaned his hands on her shoulders as he whispered into her ear. "Nobody but you can see me, try anything more than shout for help and it will end quickly. Succeed, and it will end slowly. Help me, and we will make sure it never ends at all." He was, of course, talking about her life.

Meiko sobbed once, trying to turn around and kick the guy's nads off. She hated being tricked like this. Meiko really thought this guy was with the group of freaky looking ninjas that her sister had managed to pull into the village for the day. Meiko Uzaruki hadn't taken the time to think that the enemy would still have the guts to hang around after the Konoha ninjas had taken care of them.

"What do you want with me?" She finally whimpered. "You know I'm not going to give you anything…"

James laughed when she tried to do that. He pinched a nerve on her arm to render it useless, and spoke again into her ear. "Brat, if I wanted something from you, I could have broken you open and taken it. Calm down, I think your job here may soon be over." He stood there, his hands on her shoulders and looking towards Konoha. The floating eye-ring had stopped by now. All anybody else would see was Meiko standing there.

XXX

Meko purred loudly and shrunk down to his normal size before whipping his bloody claws on the near-black grass. The full moon had risen well above the horizon and shone a silvery light on the landscape.

"Well done, Teddy-nin. You are most adept at being a ninja. Most of the current croup of Konoha genin brats couldn't hold a candle to you." The cat smiled with satisfaction and looked up into the sky before hissing and flattening himself to the ground. "Most unpleasant…Uzaruki-san is on the hunt. We should go before she finds us…"


	12. Scroll 12

_**Scroll 12: Nightly Attacks II**_

Yukari was already half-way in the dream realm when the Kyuubi's mild presence entered her mind. Due to her friendship bond with Naruto, the Kyuubi had – just how it did it, nobody knew – a psychic bond with Yukari. In her mind, the fox snarled warningly and prowled at the edge of her awareness. This made her psychical body twitch and roll over in the bed.

The black-haired kunoichi would roll over onto Wydra, who had snuck into the room and onto her bed. Wydra squeaked, but stayed asleep.

Troy, standing outside Yukari's window, rapped on the window really quickly in hopes of waking up the restless female. He then did a quick jutsu so his voice would match Kakashi's. "Yukari, wake up!"

Yukari's back twitched twice as the Kyuubi murmured things to her curse mark. Just how Kyuubi gained influence over her was a mysterious even the Hokage had no answer to. But the fox demon nudged and nudged the hormonal curse mark until it awoke. Yukari sat bolt upright in her bed as her eyes glowed blood red. She silently opened the window and was – gone.

The voice went unheard as she opened the window. So the two remaining occupants, Sheena and Wydra could hear the voice. Yukari was just…not there. However, depending on the time that Troy got there, he might have seen the minute flutter of the bedcovers settling back down; like a ninja had just been there and left in a chakra-enhanced speed.

Troy, blinking as he noticed the bed suddenly empty, smiled his form-less smile. His brother James had tried a much more elaborate trap; which had only helped Troy in the end. He snuck in the room to pick Wydra up, but was slightly confused when he saw his target was missing as well. Beating hasty retreat to the front door, Troy transformed a genjutsu for him to look like Yukari and quickly headed towards the village exit to meet up with the others, hoping the chakra seekers would be asleep.

XXX

Gilligan nodded and sighed. "As far as fighting skill is concerned? I'm not quite jounin, but I'm past chuunin. There's still a lot left that I could learn. I know I'm smarter than I should be for my age, and more skilled. I just want to enjoy what little life I have left before I turn. Meko, please don't tell anybody what I can do. If they know, they won't treat me like a child anymore."

The shadow that had upset Meko had passed over them, and the only visible thing was a streaky shadow in the moonlight. The bushes next to them rustled some and Meko yowled, jumping onto of Gilligan's head as a sleepy Sheena and Wydra walked out of the bushes, looking really confused.

Gilligan's body shuttered as what looked like a head started forming in his side, as if trying to get out. He smacked it and it went away. He just smiled at Meko. He walked over to Sheena and Wydra, put his hands on their shoulders, and let them fall asleep. He picked them up and started walking back into the village.

Meko looked puzzled as how the two females had gotten from Yukari's room to here.

"Teddy-san…I suggest taking them straight to the Hokage's office. If Yukari-san had the thought to drop them off here, her place is no longer safe." The cat followed Gilligan into the village and noted at least three ANBU in the shadows. One of them stepped forward and nodded to the kid.

"I'm not taking them to Yukari's house. I'm taking them to Sheena's older brother. The only person that wouldn't think twice about attacking him is my father. I can't run with them and I don't want to wake them up. Could you please go tell him I'm coming?" He would have not asked Meko, but he trusted Meko's skill. He knew they wouldn't attack too hard, with their real target in his arms, but he needed a little help.

Gilligan turned, walking around the village outer wall to another side of the village where the Wheel-nin had camp set up. Most of them were in the village, doing other tasks or sleeping at an inn. Some Wheel-nin chose not to, and while others couldn't.

"The, very well, I shall do this, Teddy-nin, for it shall be interesting." Meko leapt away and tried to find Shozaku's scent. The cat did have a great sense of smell after all.

XXX

Meanwhile Meiko had stiffened and looked over her shoulder before sneering and turning to the ground. "Break me open, yea right, I dare you to try…my big sister is here now, she'll kick your butt."

There was a swift breeze as Meiko vanished. Yukari had come onto the scene and taken Meiko's place. She was standing in the exact spot her younger sister was second before.

"_Who dares disturb my rest…_"

Yukari stood there, in nothing but her white long sleep shirt and her red eyes glowing profusely in the night. Black hair pooled around her feet; as her hands held wound in thick strands of it as well. Her left hand held Meiko, who was huddled behind Yukari, tightly as the other extended a kunai knife.

"We do. I'm sure you know I'm not alone here, but for the sake of back-up it's just me. I don't think the body that person belongs to is in control, but I believe I have something you want. You can try to kill me, and leave the girl defenseless, if you wish."

"What can a worthless ninja possibly have to offer a being such as myself?" Yukari's mouth moved with the question, as her sister, Meiko had already passed out from the radiating chakra Yukari emitted. The medical curse-mark tattoo on her back was sizzling, as the blood it controlled was active and most unpleased.

James held out a small clay model of Kakashi. "This person; we have him. We don't care about him, but the Darkness Nin want to take his eye out so they can give it to their father and 'complete the set' as they keep saying. I don't care about him, we only want one thing. Attack me, and many will die." He was lying about something, or keeping something back.

"Kakashi Hatake. What is the thing you want oh so badly enough to disturb the Heir of the Akashingan, ninja scum? Do you not realize I can crush you like a proverbial bug?" Yukari's teeth grew as did her hair. Not only was the hair thrumming with chakra, but feathers started appearing from her scalp too. The tattoo on her back was blazing now and Meiko had fallen away down the grassy hill.

"The little girl that rides a wheel of sorts; we have discovered that she has a certain – importance – to us. Its night-time; and we prefer to be smart about things. _We_ could just let the Dark Nin sneak in – something they're good at – and kill the village children until they find the one we want. That was the original plan." He stood there, his feet in the ground, waiting for her response. "However, we opted to strike a deal."

"You are foolish to try and wheel a deal out of this kunoichi. I shall crush you…take the spoils and – NO!" Yukari's voice cut through the dripping, sarcastic voice of her curse mark. "GET THE HELL OUT OF HEAD, stupid curse! I'm taking back Kakashi-sensei and giving you nothing!"

By this point in time, the ANBU had surrounded the scene and jumped into action. One had taken Meiko and fled, and another had slammed his palm into Yukari's back, shutting down the curse mark. Several others intended to fight.

James sighed and looked around. "I was hoping this wouldn't be that difficult you know. Chances are; father wouldn't have come here for decades. Now, when he returns, this will be the first village he slaughters. I told you that we had Kakashi. I didn't tell you that I had him. And now it has to – yes mother."

James, having been obviously interrupted, sunk into the ground. Replacing him was a woman; dressed in clothing that had the effect of revealing nothing, but looking like it revealed everything. She stood up straight, smiling maliciously. Slowly, a pink mist began to emanate from her, drifting out unaffected by the wind, as tendrils of it began to reach, inch-by-inch, towards everybody there. There was a look of – evil-knowing – the kind of look that a master would give there slave. She was clearly insane.

The pink mist fooled no ANBU, as they jumped backwards, giving the stuff a healthy distance. A few ANBU threw kunai and stars at the woman, testing her mettle. However, Yukari was left lying on the ground, having had her seal shut down; she was - at the moment – unconscious and of no help to the Night ANBU.


	13. Scroll 13

_**Scroll 13: Rescued?**_

It was the dead of night when Shozaku walked out of the casino and towards his camp outside the village walls. He had meant to try and talk to Tsunade, to get advice from her, or get to know her in some sort of deep way. But he had had a lot of fun, and so much of the stress that had been hanging on his shoulders was gone. He was glad things turned out this way. He blinked when he saw Yukari's black cat running at him.

"Yo? Aren't you the cat that's always with Yukari?" The gambler spoke aloud, not expecting an answer. Meko smirked to himself and straighten his posture.

"I am. I hope that you are not drunk enough to rescue the three kids that hooked themselves onto Yukari-san. The Teddy-nin is in need of your assistance; as well as Yukari. She might need you to assistance in backing her up at one point."

Shozaku blinked in surprise, sighed, and slapped his chest with both hands, doing a jutsu against his body. He knelt, and rather violently, purged all the alcohol he'd drunk from his body. "I don't know why Gilligan would call for me though. Whatever, don't answer that, let's just go." He waited for Meko to lead the way, he'd follow along. As he followed, he pulled a little golden wheel out of his pocket and threw it into the air. It lit up like a fire-work, and flew off towards the wheel-nin camp.

"Well, the kid did say to go fetch his father, but I have not idea of just which man could spawn a Teddy-nin kid like him. I came to get you, Gambler-san, since Yukari-chan had the hots for you." The cat was fatally honest, only fatally if Yukari found out that her pet cat – one that never talked to her – just told one of her secrets to a guy. Meko laughed quietly in his mind's eye. "Besides, where things stand now, my Yukari-chan is fighting her curse mark, and has dragged the two other children outside." The cat spoke as he guided the man to Gilligan. "She is most likely horny as a toad, so I would beware."

"His father is probably Apocalypse in human form. It's a _**good**_ thing he's gone, and I hope he stays there. And that's good to know. She is kind of hot, and I loosely suspected she might've felt that way. And that doesn't sound good." He ran alongside Meko for a few minutes until they caught up to Gilligan. He slid to a halt and looked around, his eyes glowing softly. "Well, the coast is clear for now. Let's hope it stays that way. The others should be here in a minute."

"Ok, we are here and now that I know; I DON'T wanna fetch Teddy-nin's father…sounds like he is a problem…"

XXX

As things were thrown at her, the mist swirled into an almost-tornado like form; spinning the weapons in it and throwing them back out at the ANBU. The only difference was, the weapons were now pink and would have the same effect of the main mass. The woman slowly walked towards Yukari, a tail of mist trailing her body. The silk-clad woman knelt at unconscious Uzaruki's side, her nails extending and dripping with-god knows what. If Yukari didn't wake up soon, some very weird things would happen.

Yukari twitched as the medical curse mark refused to stay tamed. Her eyes flew open and her black pupils split into two black dashes, like an equal sign. She snarled up at the woman that was standing over her as the ANBU dealt with the five of them that were slow enough to get hit with the sex-inducing weapons. A dog-mask, a jaguar-mask, two bird-masks and a turtle-mask nin were trying oh so hard not to losing themselves in the flames of passion. The problem: there were four males and one female. Judging on the way the dog, jaguar, and bird masks were advancing on the turtle mask, the turtle-mask-nin was female.

"The piss is going on here!" Yukari's red eyes blazed as she turned to face the ANBU.

The woman laughed and giggled seductively, leaning in and whispering into Yukari's ear. Something dripped onto her, and had much the same effect on her as the mist did on guys, just not as immediately potent.

"They've just realized they need to have a little fun…wouldn't you like to have a little fun?" The women dropped the clay model of Kakashi in front of Yukari's view, hoping the point would be clear enough.

Yukari blinked at the small sculpture and the two dashes in her level two ocular genkai eyes molded into one pupil again. The female attraction to the figure was, at the moment, added more fuel to the lusting curse blood in her veins. It showed too, as her cheeks turned a fiery red in the moonlight. The pit of her stomach and the rest of her body was nearly consumed by the fires of arousal; her brain, nearly overwhelmed with sexual tension.

The turtle-mask ANBU had succumbed to the pink-covered shuriken that had grazed her left hand. She, the jaguar-mask and the dog-mask were in the first steps of making out. The two bird-masked ANBU were being restrained by three other, un-affected ANBU. (The two bird-masked ANBU looked to be – pretty well endowed if one judged them on their bodies. Both of them looked like poster children for a typical porno ninja magazine.)

"Fu-fun, what kind of fun ar-are you talking about?" The modestly clad Yukari snapped into alertness and had thrown the woman back out of her 'personal bubble'. She had jumped to her feet, pulling down the long white shirt that was the only thing covering her. Yukari wanted shorts at the moment, because the long, sleep shirt certainly wouldn't make that problem of indecent exposure go away.

"Just think about it, my dearest young woman. Kakashi Hatake, a man you hold so close in your heart, could just as easily be affected. You two could do whatever you so wanted. This is a chance you will never get again. Wouldn't you like to play? Have a little fun?" she dragged her hand across her stomach, between her cleavage, and towards her eye, as the other hand did a jutsu behind her back. If Yukari was looking into the woman's eyes as she blinked, her body would be paralyzed.

"You're already half way there. Just look at them if you need ideas." she giggled, pointing out Yukari's pant-less state, and nodding towards the making out ANBU.

XXX

There was a noise that sounded like breaking trees - and a lot of them - as something moved towards Meko and the rest. A large black ball rolled into view, popping into the air and unfolding into a large person as it slammed down on his feet. As he fell, other ninja moved out as if he had been holding them in. The handful of Wheel-nin that had been at camp, were there. That included Joma, Trydna, the fiery-haired one, Skiminachi and an extra unicycle-perched ninja.

Behind them stood BaRoKenDo; one who was roughly seven feet tall, and wore a black cloak that covered his entire body, with a hole for only his head. Through the cloak, on various places from under it, emerged large and jagged spikes. He wore a spiky-helmet much like Sheena almost always wore, but his looked a lot more used. Gilligan just walked up to him, crawled under his cloak – Sheena and Wydra had already been picked up - and did no more. Shozaku turned to Meko.

"They're safe now. Where's the rest of this going on? We might be able to get there in time…"

"I think Yukari-chan went west, towards the Outer Mountains if I judged correctly." Meko would meow, his tense body relaxing after seeing the trio of brats in safe care. "I'm not sure if it was NIGHT ANBU shadows I saw, but something is bound to happen when Yukari-chan is in this state…"

Shozaku and the rest took off, assumingly with Meko either leading them or following alongside. Shozaku groaned as they ran, spotting a pink mist rising into the air. "Shit. It's her. And if we don't stop her soon, the entire village is screwed…"

XXX

Yukari was indeed 'screwed' as Shozaku had put it. Those red eyes had locked into those others; listening as the three un-affected ANBU struggled to get the Icha-Icha Paradise-class action broken up before things got wildly out of hand.

"Where is Kakashi-sensei…" Yukari whispered softly as her arms tried to hug away the growing heat that blossomed between her legs. She whimpered softly as she thought of Kakashi; trying her best not to lose her already dead-weak self-control and touch herself. Normally it would have been a late-night thing once a week; having time to herself and thinking of a few of the other male shinobi that she had worked with; but this was a mind-blower. With the Dog-ANBU and the Turtle-ANBU out of their black overcoats, pressing against each other and makings sounds that Yukari could only dream of, things were beyond her control. It seems that Itachi wasn't the only one that could control stimuli jutsu with eyes. Yukari's mind was gone as she bit her lower lip, trying to stop the heat that grew in the pit of her stomach.

"Please…where is Kakashi-sensei…" she would ask again.

The woman smiled and brought her hands up from the ground. Tied to a pole, was an unconscious Kakashi. In the state Yukari was in, there was no doubt, it was really him. The woman giggled, as Kakashi was already in his under-garments. The only thing he still had on was his face-mask; his headband been removed.

"I've been saving this one, but it looks like you need him badly don't you?"

Yukari's eyes widened as she took a step towards the unconscious Kakashi, her arousal rising to nearly unbearable levels. Both her face and inner thighs nearly burned with tension with each step. She had dreamed about this for many a nights, her and Kakashi having a passionate night together. She had crushed on him ever since he saved her during the Sand-Sound Invasion years ago. Kakashi's was lovely to look at. She stepped up in front of him and, with trembling fingers, traced his face. The temptation of removing his mask was too much for her as she slowly leaned in to kiss his scarred left eye.

XXX

"She who? Yukari-chan? She hasn't succumbed to the curse-mark, has she?" The cat questioned.

"ER…she might have. I meant the pink mist. If it reaches the clouds, she does something and turns it into rain. The entire village would soon turn into an orgy zone, and only children would be safe. Ironic, as they're usually the least safe. Joma, overload the kitty and kill that bitch!"

Joma nodded and the pale ninja jumped onto Meko's back, his hands glowing. As he touched Meko, Meko could feel an overload of chakra going into his body, pushing him to his limits and possibly beyond. It made him want to go faster and to use the energy. Joma spoke loudly.

"Use what I gave you, let's hurry it up. Four legs are faster than two!"

Meko nodded and changed into his larger form. If his Yukari was in trouble he would waste NO time in placing her back in a peaceful state. After all, HE was the cat and SHE was the bird. The now black cat, about the size of a wolf, tore towards the pink mist, not thinking about all those lovely she-cats that the so-called woman that controlled pink was would effect if her jutsu made rain like the Gambler-nin stated. Meko wouldn't have that at all.

Joma had a pretty good grip in Meko's fur. He started to glow slightly, as though there was a huge build up of chakra in him. He wasn't doing any jutsu though. Much like the rest of the Wheel Nin, Joma was an oddball sort of mystery. Now Joma's chakra was bleeding off, but Meko was still getting that excess chakra. As they got closer, the pink mist was visible at ground level. Joma leapt off of the cat's back as Meko jumped, to help boost himself into the air. As he jumped, the pale nin was crackling with energy.

XXX

The black-clad woman smiled seductively and traced a finger along the side of Kakashi's face; opposing Yukari's own tracing finger.

"Such a beautiful face; such wonderful eyes, it's no wonder you're attracted to him. He has such a strong body too." she said as she moved her hands along his sides. "With us you could have so much more, remember that." She said over her shoulder to Yukari as she left. It was pretty much what James had said to Meiko. It seemed like the bad-nin were trying to recruit.

The next instant, she saw Meko burst into the clearing. She grabbed Kakashi and threw him in Meko's way, turning to flee. As she moved, the pink mist was sucked back into her, and as it did so, the effects of it would instantly die down. She wasn't that good at fighting most of the time, so she fled when caught so off-guard like this.

Yukari's trance snapped like a brittle twig. She came of out her sex-induced trance as the ANBU did. She gasped as she caught the half-naked Kakashi. Meko yowled a war cry, choosing not to speak in the human dialect, and landed on the woman's back. Joma had aided Meko well enough and the wolf-sized cat leaned into his prize, claws and teeth shredding through flesh and clothing alike. The cat wasn't one to be choosy, so this woman was bound to be a fatality unless she had some super-strong jutsu or clever escape tactic up her sleeve.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Yukari's voice found itself and she burst into emotion-loaded tears as she tried to hold the large man up. The ANBU leapt into action after the woman as the first bird-masked ANBU rushed to aid Yukari.

A giant eye appeared in front of Meko and glowed red for a moment, before a large laser shot out of the pupil and knocked the cat off the woman. A formless ninja, similar to a moving mannequin, moved into view and grabbed her, lugging her off over his shoulder.

Meko leapt backwards, narrowly avoided being kabobed by the laser. The chakra-pumped cat had left the poor woman's back a mess. Her back muscles were torn fairly well, her backbone and the backs of her ribs showing in a few places.

The pink-mist using woman was carried off by Troy – the same formless, ninja that had made the failed effort to infiltrate Yukari's room to capture Wydra – as the rest of the Twisted Nin called a hasty retreat. They had somewhere new to be; now that their plan had failed epically. However, the Twisted nin wouldn't be gone forever, oh no – they would be back to sate their craving for revenge over this attack.

James stepped out of the trees' shadows and was about to make another retaliatory move when a bolt of lightning tore from the sky and knocked him in the chest, throwing him into the air and out of sight. A few more bolts randomly struck into the forest; then the source, Joma, fell out of the sky into the arms of the fiery haired woman. The rest of the Twisted Nin vanished as they hauled ass out of there.

The Wheel nin had won the battle again.


	14. Scroll 14

_**Scroll 14: Ambience & Perverts**_

Shozaku slid into view moments later.

"Damn…must've missed the party…" He took a quick look around the moonlit clearing's ambience and walked over to Yukari and Kakashi. "Are you two going to be alright?"

Yukari nodded soberly as the Bird-ANBU laid Kakashi on the ground, placing his head on Yukari's lap. "I think I am; after I figure out what the freak is going on! I was in bed last time I remember being conscious…" She was really confused, even with her ninja senses.

Of course a chuunin her age would be confused if they had went through what she went through. First curse-mark induced lust, then the sex-induced lust, then feeling really horny and lost – only to find an unconscious Kakashi undressed before her eyes. It was a sense overload; so, as natural, she spazzed out.

"What's wrong with Kakashi-sensei!"

The last time things had been this confusing; was back when Itachi kidnapped her to use as bait. That turned out odd as Kakashi, Asuma Sarutobi and Kurenai had shown up to fight Itachi and Kisame later. However, that was a long story for another day.

"A Twisted ninja used a sensual-based jutsu that's impossible to resist when you're hit the first time because you've never been against it before. Apparently this guy is fine, although nearly naked. And you're missing these." He held up an extra pair of her shorts, and put an arm around her shoulder. Yukari was too tired to ask just how the gambler produced a pair of her shorts.

Shozaku, however, knew how bad things could be when one recovered from the effects of a sex-based jutsu. Shozaku himself had nearly been taken in before, and was only saved by random chance. But that was a story for another, hopefully inebriated, day. The rest of the Wheel-Nin had disappeared through the trees to hunt and chase off any remaining enemies.

If anyone had been listening, they heard a resounding SMACK and then a cry of accusation of PERVERT! Yukari was seen seconds later hiding behind a tree, stuffing her legs into the shorts that the Gambler had held out for her. Not only was she thoroughly embarrassed, she was feeling guilty to for slapping a friend like she did. Sakura's slap-happy hits she often plagued Naruto with, were NOT a good example to follow. She reappeared, properly dressed as the Night ANBU returned and carefully tended to Kakashi.

"Sorry…" Yukari would mutter as the Jaguar-ANBU cleaned up the battle field before walking over to Yukari and Shozaku, chuckling softly to himself.

"You…ok there, Uzaruki-san?" the masculine voice drawled out the first word, trying not to laugh aloud. "I'm guessing you two need an escort back into the village?"

"You say that like you're the first person to slap me. Besides, if I was such a pervert, I would've dropped your shorts so you would have to bend over. I do that when things haven't been so bad. No, not really. They've all run off for now. Lets get you home Yukari…" Shozaku put a hand on her shoulder, mostly as re-assurance, and started leading her off back to the village.

Yukari looked over to the unconscious Kakashi that was well enough in the hands of the ANBU. That was one problem she didn't have to worry about. So she nodded and yawned twice before allowing Gambler-san to guide her back to her place.

XXX

Meko was now hiding in the shadows, watching the scene with his eyes. His furred skin was steaming and twitching, like a recent rainfall, as his system was burning off the excess chakra Joma gave him.

Joma crawled up and put a hand on Meko, draining back any of the chakra he'd given that wasn't used. He grinned up at Meko. "Feel's good doesn't it?" He laughed and rolled onto his back, exhausted. Meko nodded and stood up, looking at Joma and smirking a feline smirk.

"Secret? Don't tell anyone I talk…I'm not ready to be…ah…put into service by that busty-rumped woman that rules over the village." the cat chuckled to himself as he led Joma back to the hotel the Wheel Nin were using.

"No problem. I don't honestly care about most of these people, but a crazy man once saved my life and I haven't been able to pay off that debt, so now I'm helping his successor. Busty-rumped…a very good description. Makes me wish I was old enough for how bitter I am. Thanks for the ride." He got to his feet and hobbled inside, hoping to get to bed soon.

XXX

The ANBU had allowed Yukari to walk off as they stayed behind to clean the area up. They wouldn't allow a chuunin of her caliber stick around such a dangerous area. The Dog-masked ANBU that had NOT made-out with the Turtle ANBU had taken Kakashi back inside the walls and to the Medical Center. Six more ANBU had arrived on the scene as the pair left.

Shozaku watched ANBU walk off; then went to check on BaRoKenDo. As he got there, pretty much the entire area around him had been decimated. He raised an eyebrow, but shrugged it off. If the spike-bodied behemoth was still there, then the kids must be too. He nodded to him, got a cold stare in return, and kept on walking. Shozaku would just walk back to Yukari's side to be with her a while, walking around the village and thinking.

"So…what the hell happened?" Yukari was walking through the nearly life-less, moonlit streets of Konoha with the man that had started it all. It wasn't a tack of blame, but it sounded more exciting in her head. "I last thing I can remember is hearing Wydra-chan and Sheena-san falling asleep. Then I wake up to find myself, half naked, along with Kakashi-sensei, outside the village walls. Did something happen that I slept through or what?"

"From what I can guess, somebody here got tricked out of the village by James. James is sort of third in command in the Twisted-Nin village, very good at sneaking around and a pretty hard man to kill. His mother told him to back off a bit. His mother is the ninja I'd mentioned earlier, the reason that your centerfold jutsu doesn't work so well on me. Most all of her jutsus are sexual-based, the most common of which is the lust-mist she lets out that instantly turns on any person in the area and pretty much makes them sex-crazy. Since she's the only one that does anything like that, it's pretty much impossible to resist the first time. I'm not entirely familiar with what she did to you, but you got pretty…um…fired up. She got a bit arrogant and brought out Kakashi as some sort of bait. And then Meko and Joma showed up. I guess it's a good thing they did, or you might've done something you'd regret." he laughed as Yukari's face blushed.

The Gambler wouldn't have regretted it had he been in Kakashi's place, but he liked getting physical. He knew other people didn't though, so he held himself in check most of the time, and only let it out as a joke or slight perversion. He was uncertain of the preferences Yukari had; and didn't want to ruin anything in the potential, blossoming relationship.

"I don't know how you first got onto the scene though. I guess it's a good thing, because now Kakashi is safe from those psychos. Hopefully they didn't do too much…" Shozaku shivered.

"Wait, what? Meko, my CAT Meko? That lazy thing of fur? Tch, are you sure it wasn't a genjutsu or something that Joma did?" She paused, looking thoughtful. "Well I wouldn't put it past Meko to turn up in a fight." Yukari's blush had risen steadily as she and Shozaku continue to walk together. "Well, I suppose a ninja runs into something he's never encountered before. I'm just glad I managed to rescue Kakashi Hatake and had your help in running those creeps away." Yukari grinned to herself and gave a thumbs up. She had an inkling of a clue of what the woman was trying to get her to do, and it was still so tempting. But it was late, well after midnight now, and Yukari was so worn out that her adrenaline was no longer keeping her running.

"Yeah. It's always a good thing to escape unharmed with more than what you went in. although I usually apply that phrase to gambling than fighting or s… – yeah. And it was your cat alright. He's not lazy, he's a cat, and he's selectively helpful. Either way though; this is your house and you've had a long night. See you tomorrow?" He smiled. After what she said, he'd give her a quick grope on the ass and disappear. Was it a joke, an overly-friendly gesture? Who knew!

Yukari squawked as Shozaku grabbed her ass. She turned around to slug him one, but he was already gone; that sly dog. The now brown Meko was sitting on her couch as Yukari entered. The pretentious cat gave an 'I-know-all' kind of look.

"You better shut up, you silly cat; say one thing and I'll sic Akamaru on you." Yukari didn't have a better comeback for cat – the size of her head – that presumably fought away a big, bad sex-oozing ninja. The cat was just as bizarre as ever and there was no helping that. She muttered to herself before flopping down onto the bed and going into Lala land.

XXX

Skiminachi just got done with one of the Twisted Nin. He coughed Meiko back up into his arms, and cleaned her off. He pulled a bottle of salts out of his pocket and waved them under her nose to wake her up. "Rise and shine sweetheart."

"Huh? Hwha?" Meiko's eyes fluttered open as she weakly struggled against who ever held her. "Whar…where am I? Tou-sama?"

Skiminachi laughed and held her in one arm. "Somewhere outside Konoha. Don't worry, we'll be going back soon. And I'm not your father, just a good ninja." He started carrying her back to the village. "So I've heard you had a rough night, little one…"

"A good ninja, huh?" Meiko would try to wiggle out of his arms. "Yea the first one tried to tell me that and he ended up being a bad man…" She pouted, being one tired little girl, gave one yawn and looked at the trio of night ANBU that had appeared.

Skiminachi laughed and put a bag of candy into Meiko's hands before handing her over to the night ANBU. "I don't know where she lives or I would take her there myself. Have a good night Meiko." He turned to walk away, smiling to himself about nothing in particular.

The night closed on Meiko being smothered by her mother as her father, a scowl on his face, gave a warm thanks to the ANBU before returning to their interrupted slumber.

The remainder of the night was bad for Meiko; as the ANBU that had returned her to the Uzaruki house, her father Hibachi, looked most unpleased. He would surely dole out her punishment as soon and surely as the sun rose. So Meiko high-tailed it to the attic and slept alone in the dark; having dreams of those dreaded morning chores. If worse came to bare, Meiko still had the bag of goodies Skiminachi had given her.


	15. Scroll 15

_**Scroll 15: Morning Rituals**_

Those chirp-happy birds that loved to poop on Yukari's windowsill were back again. Having been denied a day of sill-sitting yesterday, the five birds had resumed their chore as if nothing had torn a hole in the wall. They sang their greetings to the rising sun.

~Chiiririririp.~

The birds' song woke Yukari up. She mumbled and sat up, stretching her bones. Her brain then registered that her modest abode was full of noise. Kids playing, somebody was in the kitchen, people chatting in her living room. Her house seemed to be bustling with all sorts of happy activity. Sheena was sitting at the foot of her bed, her helmet back on. The girl was staring at her with lovely brown eyes.

Those red Akashingan orbs would slowly gaze out the open bedroom door to the ruckus and take in the scene.

"What the f – " a pair of hands would cover her mouth to keep her from cussing. A smaller-sized version of Yukari was sitting on the bed-side table. Mai Uzaruki, the tender age of 5, sat there laughing. She was a spitting image of Yukari, black hair and all. However, her eyes were a crystal blue; as she was born with her mother's – a Kushina clan woman – eyes; crystal blue.

Sheena was still staring at Yukari; but now was also staring at Mai.

"That one…" she nodded towards Mai. "Got here a little bit ago. They're making food in your kitchen. Gilligan and Wydra are just playing. I didn't wanna play so I stayed here." She blinked and kept staring. She didn't really have a normal set of manners. She was gripped onto the edge of the bed with her feet.

"Ohhh just great! My kid sister has somehow found a way into my place." Yukari smirked evilly as she pulled the small Uzaruki onto her bed and tickled her. Mai laughed like it was the funniest thing in the world and wriggled about, trying to escape.

"YUKA-ONEE-SAN! Stop it! You have bad people in your house, aren't you gonna go turn into a ninja and wrestle them out!" Mai - a first year academ student - wasn't the brightest or sharpest; but she would be a decent ninja one day. But for now she was young and naive, so she didn't know better. Mai pointed to Sheena and scowled. "Aren't you afraid they might take over your house?"

"Mai, they are kids…slightly older than you. They are not going to take over my house."

"I wouldn't wanna do that. You're a nice person, we wouldn't wanna do that." Sheena scowled right back. She was good at it; her face was full of 'stop looking at me like that or I'll #%k you up.' Sheena went back to her calm-cold eyed stare at Yukari. It was like a bit of curiosity, some loose sort of admiration. Sheena was definitely odd.

"Hurry up and get your foxy-self dressed, Yukari-chan, breakfast is ready." There was a knock on the bedroom door as Shozaku spoke up.

There was a crashing sound in the kitchen and a series of giggles as Gilligan and Wydra ran past her door in the opposite direction.

"OH HELL NO! You butter-tarts better not have screwed with my oven!" Yukari was out of bed in a blink of a red eye and was in the kitchen. Her refrigerator had been somehow knocked onto its side in the small room. Her few pans had raw eggs sitting in them and the sugar and tea packets were strewn all over the place.

"YOU ARE SO DEAD!" Yukari howled as she stormed out of the crowded kitchen and hunted for Gilligan and Wydra. The chase took place in the small apartment front room.

Mai stared up at Shozaku as soon as Yukari threw open the bedroom door to chase after the two other kids.

"You look f-ing funny." Mai had used a word her older sister, Meiko, used often. "Are you here for some pussy?"

Mai's older sister, Meiko hung around Kiba a lot, since he was her favorite; and Mai, being the youngest, was often the one to hear and repeat things she didn't understand.

Meanwhile, Yukari was in the act of trying to pin Gilligan down and tickle him when she heard her youngest sister's words. Her face turned beet red as her hands promptly dropped Gilligan; and he landed on his butt.

Skiminachi stared at the scene, wondering how his new kunoichi friend could've missed running into such a big person as she raced out of the small kitchen area. He had brought most of his own stuff, and was just using her space to cook in. He didn't mind cooking outside, but had missed using a house of any sort, even if it wasn't built in his size. He sitting at the table was Joma and the fiery-haired woman, both raising eyebrows as they watched Yukari storm after Gilligan and Wydra. Joma was already eating and the woman was just filing her nails.

Gilligan tackled Yukari to the ground, while Wydra rushed on up and tickled the hell out of her. Both of them were laughing. Gilligan latched onto her in a hug while Wydra tried her best to make a red-faced Yukari wet her pants.

"Well, I could be, but your sister is busy and you're too young. Do you even know what that means?" The gambler-nin's face turned red as blinked in afterthought. He'd be alarmed if she did. He was shocked enough that one little girl under the age of eight did, and that was one too many.

"Yea, Inuzuka-kun says a pussy is the opposite of a doggie! Yukari-onee-san has a pussy, see!" Mai pointed to the corner chair in which slept a brown-furred Meko. It was the cat that had opened the door that morning to allow the shinobi inside the newly fixed apartment. The feline was currently snoozing as Yukari was getting a tickling.

Poor Yukari, was torn between keeping the kids tickling hands off certain, selective parts of her body and trying to get to her youngest sister shut up. Yukari's face was already red as her morning-slow brain kicked in the fact that her kitchen was indeed, a hot spot to one large nin and a few other adults. The Akashingan-heiress was in one hell of a predicament. Shozaku had seen her in nothing but her white sleep shirt and her short. It was a bit of a turn on for both of them.

"Uhh; good morning, Shozaku-san, minna-san." Yukari finally said as she made her two shadow clones to deal, individually with Sheena, Gilligan and Wydra. She sounded pretty robotic as she clamped a hand down on Mai's black-haired head.

Sheena backed into a corner and just sort of growled at the clone. If it came any closer than a foot, she would proceed to rip it to shreds until it vanished into non-existence. Gilligan calmed down, but Wydra was still a little hyper so she just hid between Skiminachi's legs, much to his amusement. Shozaku laughed at Mai's explanation and Yukari's embarrassment. The last clone vanished into the air as Yukari dispelled her.

"Yes…indeed. That's not the kind of pussy I'm here for darling. But I'm glad you know what you're talking about. Good morning, Yukari-chan. I hope we didn't give you too much of a rude-awakening. I was just gonna bring you some breakfast, but Skim-kun got the bright idea of making it here. Then Joma wanted to come along and hang out because he's bored, and Yamira said she'd kill me if I left her out again. So – here we are." He laughed and smiled; shrugging, hoping the kunoichi wouldn't explode with anger or an orgasm.

"Peeshhaaa, why don't we send tea-invites to the Akatsuki!" Yukari was not one for such extravagant mornings, but she was covering up her embarrassment with her good humor. Thankfully Mai didn't kill her with any more sex-talk. Yukari would have to escort Mai home and have a talk with father. But for now, it seemed, Yukari had a full house and had no intention of kicking them out.

"Well, knowing you nin, I'm guessing that Gilligan-san has put that refrigerator back in its PROPER place." If he didn't, Yukari hoped her words might spur him to do so. "And WYDRA-SAN…had so KINDLY fixed me some tea." Again with the hint-dropping. Mai giggled and clapped her hands, marching into the kitchen and tugging on the flaming red hair in good humor.

"Skimmy's doing all that already. He likes cooking and fixing things. All he's good at really." Shozaku caught an egg that got thrown at him, and laughed as he returned it full-force. Gilligan just crawled up Yukari's back and purred; much like a cat would. He also had a few other Meko-like features. Shozaku gestured Yukari over to the kitchen where Skiminachi would hold out a plate of breakfast and some tea. Her fridge was back in place and in perfect working order.

The woman laughed and picked up Mai with one hand, plopping her into her lap. "Hello, little one. My name is Yamira, what's your name?" she smiled. She was a very pretty woman - pretty in the same way a rose was. Good looking and radiant one moment, but could quickly go into 'KILL YOU' mode.

"My name is Raikomai Uzaruki! My friends call me Mai for short. I don't have Akashingan like Onee-san, but I want to be a ninja too!" Mai's crystal blue eyes were shining brightly as she spoke. Mai was what Yukari would have looked like had she not inherited the Akashingan.

Yukari smirked as she entered her kitchen once again and nodded to the second man on her so called 'hit-list.' She had no idea _why_ or _how_ she had a Wheel-Nin hit list, but it was probably formed in the order of whom she met; Shozaku first, then Skiminachi secondly. Ok maybe friend-list. Hell, the last time she got out of bed this razzled was the week before Naruto-chan left with Jiraiya to go train in the world. Thinking of that only made Yukari smile stronger still as she sat on the floor looking at the plate of…pink colored eggs and purple tea.

"Wow, I like this stuff…its colored!" Yukari laughed to herself as Mai tried to ninja-art pick-pocket one of Skiminachi's pockets.

Yamira laughed and smiled, her hair seeming to bounce naturally. "I'm pretty sure you'll be a great ninja, Mai." she smiled and nodded her thanks to Skiminachi as he handed her a plate of food. She reached around and tightened her dress so her bust wouldn't get in the way, as well as tie her hair.

Joma was already eating his second plate of food and laughed to himself as Mai tried pick-pocketing something off the ninja-super chef. It would be impossible because all of the plates on Skiminachi's armor were extremely heavy, heavier than most children Mai's age could lift without a decent amount of straining. Skiminachi laughed and reached into a pocket, handing her some multi-flavored gum and a bag of candy.

"There you go little one. If you want something you should just ask. And yes, I color my food sometimes because it makes it fun not only to eat but to look at! Given more time, I could make pictures out of it!" He laughed to himself and started making his own food, which looked to be a mighty feast itself.

Shozaku and Joma had their left hands on the table and were making a series of tapping signals, talking to each other. "So Yukari, we didn't bother you too much did we?" Shozaku asked. Yukari laughed heartily in-between bites as she watched her youngest sister make fast friends.

"Oi, no way! If Mai-chan is here then no doubt I would have been woken up with surprises!" She smiled at Mai as Mai forced a fake frown and accepted the bag of candy.

"Yukari-san is just being nice because I'm here." Mai did her best to look haughtily at Shozaku. Good thing was it wasn't a facial set that came easy to Mai. "If I wasn't here, onee-san would beat you up and kick your butts!"

"Oy, Mai-chan, I would not! I know these people. I would not kick their butts." the red-eyes Uzaruki pointed a fork at her blue-eyed kin. "Besides, I wouldn't have anything to do if I kicked their butts out."

In the corner chair, Meko slid one eye open and watched the whole scene with disinterest. He yawned once and sidled off the chair to stretch. The humans were making too much noise for his tastes. He proceeded to disappear into the bedroom and hid under the bed.

"Oy, oy, what are you guys going to do today, eh?" Yukari finished her food.

"Other than share stories now that we've got some downtime; first thing we're gonna do is I'm gonna go talk to Tsunade about a large number of things. The rest are going to hang out in the village, be friendly, and learn what they can. Depending on how the meeting goes, good I expect, we'll have a few plans to make and then whatever. Did you have any plans Yukari?"

Yamira and Joma laughed at the thought of Yukari kicking their butts. They'd leave if asked, but they could put up a fight. Skiminachi was now eating a MOUNTAIN OF FOOD. The man's appetite could very well be a bottomless pit.

"Say, Mai-chan, don't you have class today?" Yukari put her plate in the sink and turned around to face the crowd with a smile. "I have to train today; again, I want to see how far I can go with my earth-styles…"

"Huh? Oh, ok, onee-san! I wanna be Earth-style too!" Mai had cheered and lifted her arms in the process. "If I am going to do that, I better go to class!" the younger girl slid out of the woman's lap and raced to Yukari's front door. "Arigatou, onee-san!" And with a bow, the energetic kid was gone.

"Cha, I swear that kid is going to be one high-energy ninja one day." Yukari chuckled to herself before turning back to Shozaku. "Catch up to me, she will. Speaking of which, just what happened last night?"

"Trydna helped us figure it out over night. Your sister, Meiko, was lured out of the city by a Twisted-nin, James. We don't know what exactly he said, but he didn't force her out. I wouldn't put too much blame on her though. Then you arrived on scene with your curse mark running…" he said this as though he had already known before. "And James proposed a trade of Kakashi for…Wydra, I was told. I'm still trying to figure out why all this happened. Then James interrupted by his mother. We don't know her name, but all of her jutsus revolve around sex. She affected you and tried to persuade you to do stuff to Kakashi. It's a good thing she's arrogant or she could have killed you both or worse. Well…" He reached over and pulled a folder out from under one of Skiminachi's bigger plates. "I've got a meeting to go to, anything else you can find out from them or others back at camp. I just wanted to say hi and eat breakfast with you." The illicit Gambler hopped up and started heading out the door.

"I see, well, I suppose I have talk to Meiko-san…or not…it's up to Hibachi-dono to deal with her. I'm not going to make things worse by showing my face in that problem." Yukari frowned slightly and looked at the clock. "Geez, it's so late! I gotta get to practice!" Yukari scrambled into the bathroom with her clothes. After a few minutes and fully dressed in her nin uniform, Yukari rushed out her front door.

Yamira, Joma and Skiminachi blinked as Yukari left them in her house. She was either in a really big hurry, or she trusted them. The three adult Wheel-nin shrugged to each other and decided to leave as well. The kids, however, decided to stay and since Yukari deemed it fair, Skiminachi left them behind; knowing they'd be safe.

After Sheena waved a farewell to the three departing adults, she walked into the bedroom to find Meko.

Gilligan was curled up under the bed, rolling back and forth slowly holding his sides. His body was twitching a bit, like there was something crawling around under the skin and bumping about. Occasionally, as he turned about, a face could be seen with either a smile or a snarl plastered on. Gilligan's teeth were clenched and he was trying to make as little noise as possible. He didn't want to attract attention and blow his self-made image of being just a kid.

"Hey Teddy-chan, are you ok?" Meko had seen what was under the bed and was now wondering what the heck was going on.

"Fine…" And after a seizure-like convulsion, he lay on his back gasping for air as he spoke. "Ate Randy; he isn't dead yet. He waits until I'm trying to sleep to get out…" He took a deep breath and sighed. "It's been too long since I ate somebody…" Something about this rang horribly odd and wrong.

"Hm, are you going to try and eat me?" Meko asked rhetorically as his tail curled around his feet. He glanced back as someone poked their head under the bed.

Sheena poked her head over the bed and looked at Meko and Gilligan. "Your brother is acting up again? And is the kitty talking?" She looked at Meko curiously. These two seemed to have an odd relationship.

"No, I can't deal with two people at once. Besides, you're a nice kitty…" He reached a shaky hand over and gave Meko a pet on the head.

He crawled out from under the bed and nodded to Sheena. A few of her chains reached out and jabbed him on his head, his back, and his side. Whatever the effect, he was wide awake and full of energy now. They poked their heads over the side of the bed and looked at Meko, speaking in unison. "You won't tell anyone right?"

"Eh, you don't want me to tell anyone?" Meko's tail twitched in mirth. "I will not, as long as you don't tell Yukari that the Great Neko Meko talks…" the cat smiled largely as he knew he would never tell Teddy-Nin's odd secrets.

Both Sheena and Gilligan just shrugged at the 'great' comment. They turned around and started talking to Wydra as they walked out of the room. A small bump appeared on Gilligan's shoulder, but he just flexed and it went away. They all waved at Meko as they too, left Yukari's place, locking the door on their way out.

Meko grunted as the kids walked out of the bedroom and exited the apartment. He just jumped onto the bed and began snoozing again; thinking. The trio of kids was much more entertaining than that red-eyed bird-scented girl, Yukari. Yes, he would go with them when the kids left. They knew he talked and was a Ningen anyway. Meko surprised himself for staying as long as he did in Konoha, but it was time to move along. A ninja that summoned birds was a real temptation for a cat like him. It was only strong will-power that he hadn't eaten any of her birds so far. Maybe if he got lucky, the children would allow him to eat teddy bears.


	16. Scroll 16

_**Scroll 16: BaRoKenDo, Skiminachi & Birds**_

Shozaku knocked, a few minutes later, on Tsunade's door and entered the office and they started talking. The folder he had contained information on a lot of things; information on the various ninja, villages and techniques; as well as something that could be potentially important was a large list of Recipes from Skiminachi. He gave out things such as candy and gum freely. The cook-nin had lived a very…long life and knew how to make almost everything any large village did.

All of it was basically a swap in agreement to have somebody travel with the Wheel-Nin that would be leaving the village. The plan was to go around to the various villages and gather information, to give them the same folder Shozaku was giving Tsunade now, and eventually form a bigger alliance between the villages and the soon-to-be reborn Wheel village for when Jack returned. This meeting would take a chunk of time.

XXX

Trydna saw Yukari leave her house and remembered that she was a nice and pretty person. So he decided to follow her path along the rooftops for now. He also noticed that his younger, and much larger, brother was also in the same area. He hoped Yukari didn't get too close as Baro didn't take too kindly to people he didn't know well.

Yukari had left her place in a rush, after dressing in her normal ninja outfit; a stocking net body suit and navy-blue shirt and pants after. She left them there because she did, indeed, trust them. After all, Gambler-san and Cook-san had been quite the package of surprises for her and it was refreshing. Much like Naruto had been in his genin days, back before the Fourth died. Now she was a chuunin, having been dubbed as one after surviving Itachi's Mangekyou Sharingan and passing a test that the Hokage gave her.

Now her senseis, Kakashi and Otou, had seen her to be a mirror-ed image of Naruto, although nowhere near as chakra-filled as the Kyuubi-container. Kakashi had started in on her nine days after Naruto left with Jiraiya-sama, seeing that she was built from the same cloth as Naruto, only without a true or proper Bijuu inside her.

True, she had traces of cursed blood, as it was secreted in the Hokage's files, but that was what set her apart from both the Rookie Nine of Naruto's age-group and Naruto himself. A good three months ago, Kakashi had started her on an Element-chakra training program in which he planned to use on Naruto when he returned.

Having used the chakra-special paper, Kakashi had pinned down that she was an Earth-based type with a hint of Wind. That in itself was unusually, for a Shinobi to start out with two chakras, but she didn't care: having two meant she'd be twice as strong and ready for when Naruto when he returned.

So Kakashi opted to test his new wind-based training idea on her two days before. However, they had been called upon to bust up the Sneeze-Nin Village before she could start anything. It had been four days since then. Now she needed to work on her wind chakra today; see if she could go anywhere with it.

The rules were basic: to try and cut a leaf in half using wind chakra. The trick was; Kakashi wanted her to do it with her two other clones; testing a theory he had thought out to use on Naruto. It was a clever idea too, as Kakashi-sensei had explained that if a shadow clone does the same thing the ninja does, not only will the experience be gained by the real her, it would cut down on the time she needed to train with wind-chakra.

The downside was; if the idea worked, then not only would Naruto be able to use it; it would put him years ahead of her once again. Yukari didn't quite mind that she was a test subject. No, she wouldn't ever be as strong or saturated with chakra like Naruto, but she would refine her own abilities.

So that was her aim today; to get more hours in with her two other Kage Bunshin; a training that would take a normal jounin years to get; she had only tried it once, so it stood she had three hours done already…from just having a go for three minutes.

Yukari had made it to the clearing and was now warming up. The terrain around here was slightly hilly, like a teenager had come through with a bulldozer. She had done it while practicing her earth style. So far it was mediocre; not considered an outright threat, but by using the smaller earth-style jutsus and her brain; it had worked for her so far.

Now she had pulled out a ratty looking maple leaf and performed her Kage Bunshin jutsu. The two of them sat there next to her; leaves in their palms as the held quiet, concentrated stances. However, due to her depleted chakra reserves, her two clones only lasted a minute before they vanished. The kunoichi sighed in frustration, but didn't move and meditated instead.

Yukari's meditation might be interrupted by the sound of heavy footsteps approaching. They weren't coming up to her just yet but they were close, as though a very large creature was coming.

From within his tree-covered spy-spot, Trydna sighed; he knew this moment had been coming since some time last night. He only hoped this did not scare off or change the young kunoichi's attitude towards his youngest sibling.

The red-eyed kunoichi obviously felt the tremors; she'd be dead not to. She opened those kekkai genkai eyes of hers and peered around. They fell upon the moving mass of Barokendo and that caused her to gasp as he jaw dropped. The male was just so extremely large that she couldn't help but jump up in her place and bring a kunai to bear in front of her. However, she didn't attack; regardless of being overwhelmed sensory-wise.

"What in the name of the Hokage ARE YOU!" She'd sound off; her mouth still gaping wide in slight intimidation and awe.

"Why is it that they always bring forth the name of their leaders? You say in the name as though they have some higher power, when they are just as easily crushed as many others are." The large Barokendo sounded angry, and the look in his eyes was a cold stare, as though he was pissed off at Yukari for something.

Barokendo was indeed a massive man, but that was the least intimidating thing about him. His entire body was covered in a thick, black material that dropped to the ground and piled there, covering his feet. The only interruption in the cloth was a hole for his head - a head which, like Sheena's, was covered in a large spiked helmet except the spikes were all around, not just on top. The helmet looked like it was, sickeningly enough, welded on.

All throughout the black-coat, tips of spikes could be seen. The man carried himself with power, as though every step was a challenge to anybody that would take it, and he looked around at things as though there was a decision on if it would still stand when he looked away. This was a man that instinctually expected to have his orders obeyed and a man that never lost in a fight.

"Only my father could truly tell anyone what I am. But what I am doesn't matter to you, only who. And right now, I am a very concerned older brother." He stopped speaking there and paused his stride; wondering what Yukari's reaction would be so far.

Her mouth would curl into a snicker as he spoke his words. Belittling the Hokage like that would have set Naruto-chan off in an instant, but not Yukari. Instead she found the fact that this overly large ninja male had a sardonic sense of humor that appealed her very core. A snort escaped her lips as she lowered her kunai and un-tensed her body.

"Would -snort- you rather I invoke the name of some other person...or perhaps a thing!" The red-eyes gleamed in mirth as she truly looked at him. He hardly looked concerned; more like out to destroy the very thing that would invoke a feeling of concern.

The titan would nod when she snorted at him. "I want you to understand the only reason you're not a stain beneath my feet is the same reason for my concern. My little sister Sheena seems to have taken a liking to you, which has not happened in a few years. It would end badly if you were to use that against me, or to hurt her in any way. And promise or not, if you laugh at me again, there will be consequences. And I say this only for your benefit, but make sure she is never alone with a man, or that they don't look too closely at her." With that, he turned around and started walking away. Unless she pursued him or said something, he was going to leave his statement at that.

Yukari would promptly shut her mouth and nod respectfully. Putting away her kunai, she pursed her lips and smiled. Some ninja might decide to follow the tough nut in order to crack it; but she opted for another route.

"Ok, I'll make sure of that, mister-large-Nin! She's sure lucky to have a brother like you to watch out for her!" The Akashingan user smirked again as she exhaled her nervousness and squatted down to pick up her ratty leaf. "I guess I'll forgo to ask you out for sake later on, big guy." She muttered loud enough into the wind so that the breeze carried it to his ears. "Sheena is in the Kenkon district, by the way, which is to your left."

He just continued walking, if he heard her he gave no indication. Skiminachi came up from the opposite direction, the one that Yukari had come from, shaking his head when he saw Barokendo walking off. Trydna just sort of walked into view from the other side of the clearing, looking lost but angling in a general direction towards Yukari. Skiminachi spoke, voice momentarily full of regret.

"That one is always so angry. Though I am glad he has something to anchor him. If it were not so, many would be troubled. On lighter tones…" he smiled and brightened up, turning towards Yukari. "Your house is back to normal. I even fixed it up a bit for you, as thanks for letting us use it this morning. So is...this your training grounds?" He asked, looking around.

"Ah yes, thanks. Anger and happiness are two sides of the same coin. I can only imagine that a few friends of mine would love to flip that said coin." Yukari spoke maturely before straightening up to lock eyes with the slightly, only by a fraction, smaller man Skiminachi.

"Yes it is; Kakashi-sensei and I use this since team 7 is currently on their own quests." She meant Naruto, Sakura and lastly, Sasuke. Her thoughts quickly raced around that name; since she was inexplicably linked with the Uchiha brat. And that link was none other than interaction. But she shook her thoughts away and looked forlornly at the tattered leaf in her head. "Since it reminds me I've got a long ways to go in training my body to keep up with the elite of my friends. I'm just about out of chakra I set aside for training use. I've got nothing to use currently so I don't know why I'm still here."

Crimson eyes turned upward as she smiled. "Well I suppose I could still pester you Wheel Nin today, that is if that juggernaut that just passed by doesn't kill me for doing so." Here, she would cant her head to the side and smile at the large cook. "Do you cook for him too?"

"No, he could only kill you for harming his sister or talking down to him. I cook for everyone, though he doesn't eat often. None of the Darkness ninja do, the children are worse about it. Sometimes I can only get Sheena to eat if I promise her candy afterward. And do not worry about him, he does not like new people, and feels that anything he hasn't met is a threat. If you are around him more often he'll most likely become used to your presence. That or if Sheena continues to speak highly of you, he'll lighten up a bit." He cracked his knuckles, his hands showing calluses from long hours of cooking and dealing with fire.

"If you are in need of chakra, I can help with that. Training, I can help with that too; or cooking, anything really. I may not be the best fighter but I am good at most everything else. What would you like my assistance with?"

Yukari nodded in understanding. It figures that someone from the Darkness Nin would not exactly have a sunny personality; which brought her to her next train of thought. The three new types on nin she had met in the past handful of days. "Twisted, Darkness and Wheel Nin. Something I've never heard of before come rolling in, throwing their parties. Just where and how did the Darkness Nin split and join the Wheel Nin. If ninja around here did that, they'd be hunted down as Missing Nin. Jamaru-sensei, er, ex-sensei, was a spy for the Sound Nin; trying to sell my kekkai genkai to them." She frowned at the memories of the cold-hearted jounin that she had ended up with. "Let's say he's no longer among the living." the kunoichi smiled at the Cook-nin and crinkled her eyes. "You? Do the Wheel nin have genin teams?"

He nodded, reached around his back and lifted a large plate of armor and pulled out a folding table. He stepped back, giving some space between the two of them, and set it down. He reached under a rather dome-like plate and pulled out two small tea cups, set them on the table, and filled them with water after a few quick hand-signs. Putting tea in them, he did another hand-sign and heated them up, stirring them with one particularly burnt finger. This didn't take too long, as it looked like something he was practiced at doing. After it, he sat down, took a cup of tea, and pushed one towards Yukari.

"Ahhh…how did it all start; or rather, how did the three villages come to clash. It would be about two years ago, when Kentarou was just starting to get the Wheel Village up and running, and had just settled on a location with a small group of us."

"Back then, he only had Shozaku, Joma, Yamira, and me; as far as jounin are concerned. By this time he had already found Wydra, and a few of the other unicycle-riding-nin you saw today. If you look closely, you might think Wydra and Sheena could be sisters, were it not for their very different upbringings. Trydna thought so, when he was out on a mission to gather intel. on Kentarou. He thought that putting Sheena in Kentarou's care would be a better alternative than leaving her with her father. He thought this so much so, it brought a momentary…calmness in his broken mind. Joma believed his family could do better, that his siblings could live a life outside of such cruelty; that his sister could stop undergoing the type of training their father was so fond of. So, he concentrated to keep his mind at ease, and followed Wydra back."

"Shozaku spotted him, though Wydra, being a rookie ninja had no idea she was being followed. Shozaku could see she was, though. He can anything he so wishes, really: the truth of things, the truth through things." He paused for a moment to let that sink in to Yukari's mind. "After a bit of confusion; Kentarou realized Trydna wished to talk. He could not spare much time then, but over the following months they slowly came to an agreement. Trydna would help them with information, tactics, and anything they wanted against the Darkness ninja, so long as they would keep his sister Sheena safe. It took Trydna quite some time to convince his father that Sheena was old enough or good enough for a mission and to send her out. But the moment she was outside of the village, Trydna whisked her away. It took another month for him to convince her that they were good people, and that she should stay with them rather than go home. And so, things were at peace for about…a week."

"Then the father, Jack, realized something was wrong. Two of his children were missing, his oldest and his second youngest. So he sent his second oldest, the behemoth you just recently met, to fetch them. This time it was Joma that felt him coming, he warned Kentarou and Kentarou evacuated the village in time. Kentarou stayed behind to fight, while Trydna and Sheena stood nearby so Barokendo could see they were safe and not being forced against their will to stay. That…that was a fight everyone felt for quite some distance. It was one of the few times I've seen Kentarou knocked off his cycle in battle, though he's jumped off himself many times. Eventually, Kentarou subdued Baro enough to talk. In the end, it was Sheena, crying for what was to be only the second time in her life, pleading with him to let them stay. He still doesn't like most of us. Sometime soon after, James showed up. But that is a story for another time, as I have been talking for far too long on that subject. Ah, I almost forgot, you wanted to know if we had teams like your village, correct?"

Yukari smiled to herself as she took the offered cup of tea, sitting herself on a nearby stump while she listened to the Cook's story.

"Wow, that sounds as exciting as the founding Konohagakure." the crimson-eyed ninja played her role as an active listener, nodding at parts in Skiminachi's story. She was fascinated by the idea of rotten, no good-in-morals Darkness Nin. Then, as a pure-bred dog raced by their training grounds barking its tan, furry head off at something; Yukari finished her tea and smiled.

"It would be normal for villages to have a system of ranks. Hokage, ANBU, jounin, chuunin, genin and academ student. But it sounds like it wasn't that way in your case."

After that being said, Yukari could blush as she processed the information about Shozaku. It couldn't be helped that she had a thing for strong jounin-level nins, as, during her younger days, she was known as a flirt. But since she had matured in the past sixteen months, she had since given up flirting with the males that had been - still known - as the Rookie Nine. Naruto, Shino, Kiba, Chouji and even Lee-kun had dated her – and she; them.

Since Naruto had left with Jiraiya to train, Yukari had thrown off her childish, early teen habits and was now focusing on getting stronger and carving out her own niche by testing out what she was good at. Time had shown that she was very clever in using her hair as weapons of battle; often having to report new jutsus she had created to the Hokage so they could be written down in the Uzaruki archives.

"So the Darkness-Nin are still pissed at you for usurping their power and two of their members?"

"No. we don't know what happened six months ago, but I'll skip a large part of the story here. Our old village is…gone. It wasn't destroyed; we just haven't been unable to find it. The place where it once was, no longer is. The leaders of the Darkness and Twisted villages came, putting aside their differences, to destroy us; or more specifically, to destroy Kentarou. It's a mystery how one his age became so powerful. Kentarou-sama had all of us evacuate the village, keeping Shozaku and Wydra just long enough to perform a strange kind of jutsu on them. Nobody knows what it means, but they each have a third of a wheel tattooed onto their back. After they left, the only person that felt anything was Joma. He can sense when large amounts of chakra are being used, and he passed out from it. When we went back, the village, the land, even the very air that used to be there was gone, as though a god had ripped out that part of existence and sewn what was around it shut. That was six months ago, and we haven't been able to figure out what happened since. Most of our time was spent finding the kids. Now that we have, we're going to spread the word against the evil-villages and try to figure out just what Kentarou did."

"As for ranks and teams?" He smiled. "You would be correct in saying our village is unlike others. Since we are not large enough to form teams, we assign as many people to a purpose as are needed, assuming they have the proper skills. The only actual team is the four unicycle-riding nin, and now I guess the mini-nin team. The only two people that don't listen, or can choose not to in my case, are myself and Barokendo. Until I went out on missions to contact other villages for Kentarou, I had no knowledge of how most of this continent worked. I don't think he knew that…" Skiminachi laughed a most santa-like laugh. It was the kind of sound that when anybody that heard it would have a better day, a brighter smile, a quicker step. "Did you have anything else planned in your day or was talking to an old cook like me was all you had planned?"

Skiminachi sat there in the sunlight, looking to the world like he was twenty-six; when in truth, he was twice that age. The cook wore his age well for somebody who had been through so much. He stopped his chuckling as a golden wheel zeroed in on the pair.

Yukari had been deep in thought after hearing the Kentarou and his jutsu that had placed a tattoo on two people. "That sounds an awfully a lot like what the Yondaime did to seal the…rather large mass of chakra that was visited upon Konoha fifteen years ago."

Having caught herself about to say 'Kyuubi' Yukari quickly replaced her words with others. The punishment she'd get if she broke the law to outsiders would be most unpleasant. "Er, a sealing jutsu was used; and it sounds a lot like what you just told me."

Yukari blushed at being called stingy, yet the rules she played by weren't hers. Following the golden wheel with her crimson eyes, she delicately replaced the cup onto the table and gave a smile towards the cook. "I am unable to talk as freely as I wish to, but I see you have business to attend to…"

Here, a yellow and black finch twittered and landed on her head. This bird signified that she was needed ASAP, in the Village Rookery – the place where the messenger birds were based. "As it seems I have my own to look towards. I hope you can find the location in which you need to be at without my help?" She waited a few seconds for an answer.

"Indeed. Shozaku either requires my assistance in the meeting, with something else, or have other important information for me. If you ever see one of these wheels, it is a message from us. Kentarou only trained a few how to send them. Shozaku is the only person that doesn't ride a unicycle that Kentarou trained to use it. Either way, I bid you good luck in your next adventures."

With his parting message, the massive cook-nin stood up, folded the hot-table, storing it in his armor, turned and walked off. Trydna was still right there, as he had been; still leaning against the trees near Yukari, staring off into space and lost in thought.

XXX

While digesting the information on the Wheel Nin, Yukari quickly made her way to the Konoha Rookery; as per instructions via yellow finch. As much as her clan was dwindling to only a scant handful of ten members - some not having the kekkai genkai - the Uzarukis had played a vital part of avian communication during the Kyuubi incident fifteen years back. Now in the footsteps of her once populous clan, Yukari was in charge of a few, hand-bred aerial raptors that trafficked in confidential information. She also had a menagerie of other birds to take care of; such as the yellow finch that had been used to summon her.

When the Uzarukis came to reside permanently in Konoha during the Leaf Village's birth-years, they had brought their Bird-based contracts with them. Their specialty of using the Bird-clan earned them the right to become one of the major twenty-five clans that sat on the village council. With their innovative ideas on how to train fighter birds to carry and deliver message proved to be a great way to contribute to the well-being of the Fire Nation. With considerable planning, the Uzaruki Clan quickly became the leading clan that dealt in aerial communication.

Breeding and teaching birds became the pride of the Uzarukis, and every clan-child that was born to become a ninja, spent at least a year in the Bird-Unit – learning and grooming specially bred hawks to deliver messages – coded and otherwise – to Konohagakure from all over the Fire continent. The success of this training program was put in jeopardy when the Uzarukis began to die out (much like the Uzumaki Clan, of which were close friends with the Uzarukis.) So it was vitally important for the remaining Uzarukis to train other ninja outside their clan on how to care for the messenger raptors. The clan contracts still held with the Bird-clans, but on a severely lesser degree.

It was her father, Hibachi Uzaruki; that had ordered her to spend her eighth year dedicated solely to the Bird Unit training program. She had learned much and even had the honor of raising her own messenger eagle: Hari. The normal-sized hawk was hatched from the brood that was bred solely for Uzaruki use. Being a chick from her dearly departed sister's eagle, Sora, Yukari had used her eighth year learning how to calm, feed, groom, and hunt Hari. It was a hard task for a girl her age to manage not only her personal bird, but hundreds of others now in use by other ninjas.

Yukari had been immaturely employed when Lady-Tsunade became Hokage; and used many resources in the rebuilding of Konoha since its devastation by Orochimaru's hand. Those resources included the avian message center. Yukari had to be trained on how to handle top-class information and coded missives: folding, handling and viewing. She was not cleared to lay eyes on many of the messages and thus it was tricky to handle when she was needed to remove the thin, tiny tubes from off the birds' legs and hand them other to those who were cleared to view the script.

Naruto and a few of her other friends laughed in good faith when she said she handled something that could burn her: namely peeking at the curious messages that she handed over to her higher-ups. It wasn't that she minded walking on such thin ice, but being new to the intricacies of not looking at something; when her second nature ordered her to view the whole, hidden and underneath picture of the ninja world.

When she entered the Rookery, she saw that her brother, Kensuke and his personal eagle Torikaze weren't on duty. He and Torikaze were most likely running drills to and from Konoha to Sunagakure.

So, she made her way past the low tables and benched that the De-coding nin used – keeping her red eyes up and forward and away from the few unrolled messages on the tables – and to the balcony perch-post that her Hari was perched on. The two male shinobi that stood beside Hari must have been new to the Unit, as their foreign close proximity upset her golden-black eagle.

Yukari sighed as she slipped on the nearby leather glove and brace, and then offered her protectedly covered arm to Hari. In seeing this, the golden-black Hari alighted on her arm and cooed as she rewarded him and removed the missive from the tiny tube-carrier on his left leg. Handing the rolled scroll to the specialty nin on duty, Yukari smiled in happiness to find that broad-traveling Naruto was indeed was using her birds to communication back home.

The white-haired sannin and the Hokage talked her into allowing Jiraiya and Naruto to use Hari and a temporary, three-year contract while they traveled and trained. With the use of a messenger raptor, the traveling sannin could write coded reports and other important information he deemed fit to share. Yukari was hesitant to allow such a renowned pervert to use her bird, but when Naruto threw his two cents in, she caved and readily agreed.

It had been the deciding factor when Naruto mentioned that he could stay in touch with his friends if there was a faster way than Mail-Carrier Service. Yukari told him that Uzaruki raptors were not only fast and extremely trust-worthy; any attempt of outside interception would send the bird into a frenzy against the carried message and either eat it or destroy it.

To date, Yukari had only known of three such incidents that resulted in the messenger bird returning with a halved message tube – and signs of battle. One of the myths went that the first Uzaruki Lady Yumiko and her eagle Kaze had to be taken off the active list because Kaze had returned to the Rookery with only one leg: it had severed its other leg and ate it along with the message.

If anyone within the Rookery had sensitive enough hearing, he or she would hear the pitter-patter of tiny cloth feet as a teddy bear the size of a small-child's palm made its way up the window. It climbed over the edge and looked around. Then, noticing Yukari, it crouched and jumped onto her shoulder. If it landed un-hassled; it would begin tugging at Yukari's shirt towards the window. If a decoding nin noticed that there was a teddy-bear on Yukari's shoulder, he would have to look twice, as the kunoichi was moving busily and lost in thought.

XXX

"Thank you for your co-operation so far, Tsunade-sama. I will look over the information and match those you said would be a guide to the best groups possible. If you need to get a hold of me anytime soon; I've given you the methods and you know where our camp is. Skiminachi has something he would like to talk to you about, so I leave it here." A few seconds would pass before those within the same building as the Hokage's voice was heard:

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN OLD PEOPLE?" Screaming was heard, which was followed by Shozaku hauling ass outside, and towards the city gates. Shozaku stopped mid-point away from the Hokage's office and now calmly walked out of the city towards the camp; uninterrupted.

XXX

Yukari's eyes followed her eagle Hari's cocked head to the tiny teddy. She smirked as she placed the noble bird on his rest perch and removed her leather arm-brace. She allowed the tiny teddy to point the direction of where he wanted her to go. Then, allowing a gentle-placed hair curl to secure the plushie, she leapt out the window just in time to hear the Hokage's furious screaming. The red-eyed kunoichi smirked wickedly as she viewed Shozaku exiting the building in haste.

What waited for her below was the genin-style team formed from the opposing villages. Wydra was balanced on her unicycle-d waving excitedly. Sheena was looking down at the ground, and Gilligan was just staring with those puppy eyes that never seemed to go away. The teddy vanished from Yukari's hair and reappeared, as a normal sized doll once more, strapped to Gilligan's hip. Wydra wheeled and would move to try and intercept Yukari before she landed.


	17. Scroll 17

_**Scroll 17: Ramen & Trouble**_

At the Yamanaka home, something seemed very amiss. The only indication to any outside the home, such as those on patrol or passerby, of the wrongness of the house would be both the complete silence, and that any shadows from the house seemed somehow more…jagged, angular; as if the darkness itself was now violent.

XXX

"Hello once again, you little busy bodies." Yukari landed deftly on the ground as she smiled at the three kid-nins in greeting. "What are you three doing here?"

"Sheena's brother and Joma said we could do what we wanted for the day and we wanted to hang out with you because we don't know this place too well and you're nice and fun right?" Wydra informed her. Wydra had slept rather well the previous night, and had been a little inactive for the day. They'd been told to leave her alone while she'd been training so had wandered off, and it had taken them a few minutes to find her.

"Joma told us to leave him alone and BaRoKenDo said he was busy." Gilligan continued. "So that's what we thought it meant because Shozaku wasn't around to ask."

Sheena was a little closer to Yukari at this point, but was still looking down at the ground. She seemed to be wearing a non-spiked helmet today, though this one covered more of her face like a ninja-mask might.

"So Joma-san sent you to me to play hostess with?" Yukari laughed in joy. "Well, I suppose I can play with you three. My chakra reserves are resting, and the Med-Center won't let me see Kakashi-sensei." Yukari grinned at Sheena as she laid a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder. "I would be more than available to show you around the village. Did you have any ideas on what you might want to see first?"

XXX

Meiko Uzaruki had finished her class for the morning; and was promptly returning to the Uzaruki clan house to finish her punishments for her behavior in the nightly incident. However, she was pouting, dragging her feet and grumbling to herself as a brat kid would. Her deviated path took her close to the Yamanaka house.

The young Uzaruki had learned from her elder sister, Yukari; that the blonde-ninja had recently moved in with the pink-haired bimbo. Rumor had it that the Ino girl had fought with her parents over something bad enough to drive the girl into the shared-apartment deal that was now in effect. Sakura and Ino lived together as of now. Friends were great to use if they could get you away from the annoyance of your brethren, as it were. So it was odd when Meiko had paused to look at the darkened, scary front of the house that belonged to Inoichi-dono, Ino's father, and snorted her mild distaste.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid." Meiko muttered.

A child, looking to be only a year older than herself, would just suddenly appear standing next to Meiko. He wasn't wearing a shirt or anything over his upper-torso, and instead of a headband, he wore a belt with the symbol for 'Darkness' on it. The reason he flaunted it carelessly was because he'd assumed Meiko was ignorant of the news of the villages that attacked Konoha. He wore a normal pair of black pants that were form-fitting, and seemed to be in the shape of a normal nine year old. His eyes were black, with only whites around the edges, and his hair was white. He was facing the house but clearly talking to Meiko.

"Are you a friend of theirs? It might not be the best time to interrupt right now."

Meiko nearly jumped a foot into the air as the boy startled her. Iruka-sensei was right to scold her for not paying attention.

"Oh, piss, don't do that!" she hissed as her read eyes narrowed to study the scrawny kid. "No, I don't know the Yamanaka-clan that well, but what do I care? I'm not that important because I'm not even a genin yet."

Meiko stood there, just now aware of her sweaty-dirt stained blue shirt and green capris. She had worked out her frustrations in class today; which was great considering that it was grappling practice. Running a hand through her un-clannishly short hair, Meiko replaced her scowl with a smile. The boy next to her had the right kind of vibes: dark, angsty, and 'not-give-a-shit.' Meiko extended her hand.

"I'm Meiko Uzaruki, what's your name?"

"Jack Shan-chay." He shook her hand, holding the contact for a moment longer while one eye looked over and winked at her, his mouth forming a quick smile-smirk. Before too long, he turned back to the house for a moment before a couple of figures emerged.

One of them was Inoichi-dono, whose footsteps were followed by a child that was shaped almost exactly like Jack; except the child wore a full ninja-outfit. In place of the normal ninja head-gear/mask, he wore a reaper's hood. The two of them continued to walk past Meiko and Jack, and the shadows around the house became normal once more, and the surrounding area seemed a lot less tense. Jack turned towards Meiko.

"It seems the business here has been concluded. I'm kind of new here, would you mind showing me around?" His eyes still held the same look, as though he were observing everything that passed in front of them, as though each insignificant step he saw was calculated into a plan of his.

XXX

"What kind of places do yo…" Wydra stopped mid-sentence.

Sheena had managed to edge her way up to Yukari and tugged on her arm, then pointed in the general direction of the ramen shop that Yukari had first encountered the Wheel nin at. Gilligan, in the time it would take a fly to flap its wings twice, had the eyes of a normal child as he raised an eyebrow in surprise. For Sheena, this much sociability was unusual. Almost as though it was automatic, Gilligan's genjutsu was back in place and he looked adorable once more, eyes just staring so creepily; it had to be cute.

"Uhm…what's in that direction?" Wydra asked Sheena. Yukari smiled softly as she nodded at Sheena in understanding.

"Ichiraku Ramen it is!" the kunoichi led the trio to the shack and knew, in her head, that she would dip into Naruto-chan's account for this.

It was the very reason he trusted her with his account; which was not only an accumulation of his extinct clan's treasure, but his own hard-earned money. Before he had left to train in the wild blue yonder for three years; the blonde, hyperactive ninja extracted a promise and duty from her to take his place in supporting the Ichiraku Ramen shack while he was gone.

It was a solemn vow she performed with the utmost dedication she could muster. In the beginning, she had hated the taste of ramen (in general) but it had long since grown on her as a favorite. The food has a great source of protein and nutrients that were excellent for a ninja of her build.

So now she had three fresh new victims to push her ramen fetish upon; not that they would have minded. Yukari ducked under the white and red cloth banners that partially hid the innards of the shack and called out a greeting to Teuchi-senpai.

"Yo, old-man, I'm here for my daily serving of 'naruto'. She'd use the word in loving jest, since it was both a food ingredient and the name of her best friend. "I've brought three new friends as well!"

Wydra wheeled up to the counter excitedly and looked over the menu, asking about everything there was. Gilligan was already sitting at a table just staring off into space, waiting for the rest of them to join them. Sheena was hiding behind Yukari, her head poked around her side and looking about the ramen shop. This sort of environment was new and she was cautious, as though either frightened or unsure of what to do.

Yukari gentle sat herself down on the counter's stools as she pulled out her orange, plastic card that was linked to Naruto's account. She had stored this in the heart of her nin-pack, so it would take a Kyuubi-induced explosion to knock it free of its place. She then laughed as Wydra ordered everything on the menu. Yukari then ordered her favorite; fish and chips ramen - a dish that Teuchi made the swirly 'naruto' with pink salmon instead of orange-ish beef.

"Teddy-san, are you going to eat anything?" She'd ask as her eye was on Sheena's wary first-round sensory study of the small, stout shack. "The food here is different from the high-class restaurants, but it's better than their food, Sheena-san."

The statement earned a full-stomached laugh from Teuchi and his daughter, Ayame.

XXX

Meiko looked minutely intimidated at the six foot tall blonde Shinobi of the Mind-Walker Clan. The Uzaruki girl shook her head in nervousness before turning to Jack.

"Sure, I just got out of class, so I was going to the basic shuriken field to practice." She'd turn to her right and pointed with her thumb. "It's that way."

Jack seemed to take no notice of the two that walked by, as though he already knew where they were going. He chuckled slightly and nodded, looking for a moment in the direction she'd pointed, before returning his calculating gaze back to her eyes. It seems this one had no problem looking people in the eye.

"You had been in class and you're already going to train?" Jack continued. "Why don't you rest? On my way here I noticed several of your classmates doing the same."

Meiko snorted at Jack's inquiring statement.

"Beh, I'm just trying to avoid going back home for punishment duty. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time last night and Hibachi-Tousan got pissed." Thanks to her time spent with Kiba Inuzuka and the other genin males that had been genin for two years already, Meiko loved to use the more curse-y words in her vocabulary.

"It'd stand as an excuse if I told Tou-san that I went to throw shuriken at wooden dummies than come home." She'd walk and talk to Jack as she angled herself towards the genin-level practice field.

XXX

"Sure, there's always room for more." Gilligan said; or rather, the words came from his mouth but the voice sounded like someone else's. Gilligan just laughed until Sheena, momentarily snapping out of it, smacked him on the back of the head with a chain. Wydra then wheeled up to Sheena, grabbed the edges of her helmet, and pulled her up to the counter, picked her up, and sat her on the other side of Yukari.

"She's just not sure how to be here. This is…the opposite of just about anywhere she's usually been. This is the first place we've had time to relax in, so she's tried to adjust to since home." Wydra's voice had grown steadily louder to go over a growling that emerged from Sheena's throat. Sheena just kept looking down though, and had planned on nibbling whatever Yukari or Wydra ordered. Gilligan seemed to have disappeared somewhere along Wydra's explanation.

Yukari giggled at the antics of the trio of nin-kids: Sheena, Wydra and Gilligan/Teddy-nin. The Kunoichi tapered her laughter off as she ordered a regular, mild beef ramen for Sheena.

Whatever Sheena had done, the seat had been moved until she was sitting side-by-side with Yukari. When their ramen arrived, a couple of chains reached up and she pulled the bowl down with them, her eyes only gliding up to Wydra and Yukari momentarily before she looked back down and ate. One end of a chain split and formed into a pair of chopsticks, becoming her eating tools while her arms hid still beneath her chains. Words could echo in Yukari's mind: 'Sheena seems to have taken a liking to you.' As though to explain her current change of behavior.

XXX

Jack laughed.

"Ah, the punishment of one's overlords; something my siblings and I are way too familiar with. What wrong time were you at what wrong place last night?" He didn't ask with any kind of forcefulness, but he didn't ask as though he expected to be un-answered. He continued anyway though, not quite wanting to scare her off or make her feel like there was any kind of distance between them. "And are you really gonna throw shuriken around or just hang around for a bit?" He kept pace with her, occasionally taking his eyes off of her to look at the surrounding environment but mostly maintaining his gaze on her as they walked. He seemed…very interested in her for some reason.

Meiko canted her head sideways in response to Jack's thoughts on punishment. "Yea, this place isn't the best of hang-out joints on my list; and my throwing skills are ace already."

To emphasize her point, Meiko took a ninja star out of her right-legged pack and spun around to let the metal-wrought four-pointed tool fly from her fingers to slice through the air; embedding itself in the bull's-eye center that was the head of the left-most wooden dummy.

Jack nodded and watched her test of accuracy. "Well yeah, those aren't moving targets. Can you hit this?" He reached behind his back, pulled out a wooden disk, and tossed it like a frisbee over the field. Although it was facing them, instead of flying flat, so she would have something to hit. After she succeeded or not, if she tried at all, he'd just keep talking.

"What are some of the best on your list of hang out joints?" He'd ask; his voice the same as ever. He was acting very interested in the current subject.

Meiko smiled as she produced another star and flung it at the wooden disk, nailing it only a centimeter from the center. It was close enough to be viewed, by the naked, untrained eye, as dead-center. She grinned victoriously as she turned towards Jack.

"The top five places on my hang-out list are where-ever Kiba-sama is at and the second, the group of trees in the southwest section of the village. Those are some radical trees; like apple and sakura and dogwood." Meiko's Akashingan eyes crinkled in mirth as she began to enjoy this boy's presence.

Jack wasn't at all stupid or immature like the academ students that made up her class. Nor was he at all the sunshiny bundle of shit that was the Third-Hokage's grandson. Yes, she was currently in Konohamaru's class; and yes she sat next to him in class; along with the two other, naturally-made members of his future genin team: Moegi Akimichi and Udon Yurimi.

"Why don't we go over that way? Seems like it might be a bit better than standing around here staring at targets, doesn't it?" He smiled, or smirked one could never be sure, as he spoke. Unless she put up or offered a protest, he'd start walking in a southwestern direction. "Looks like you've got something on your mind there, and why are your eyes like that?"

"My eyes? I was born with the Akashingan." Meiko subconsciously followed Jack towards her tree hide-away, talking while walking. "The doujutsu allows the user to use the optic nerves of any bird."

XXX

Meanwhile, Inoichi, Ino's father, could be seen walking towards the Ramen shop the four of them were currently in. He entered the shop that stood opposite the shack quietly. Or rather, his entry didn't stand out and he would give the briefest of nods to any that spoke to him or commented on his presence. He positioned himself against the wall and made it look as though he was going over the menu, deciding on what he'd want. He was mostly just biding his time, looking for a good moment to do what he needed to do. If anybody looked closely enough, they'd notice his shadow wasn't leaning in the right direction.

Yukari, being the chuunin class material she was, had registered Inoichi-dono approach. She found this odd, since Ino-chan had told both her and Sakura-chan the reason she moved out of home. The two had yet to reconcile, so Yukari was on minor-level alert; wondering if the man wanted to talk to her about Ino or Naruto.

Using her nin skills, she shrugged into a nonchalant front; laughing and eating as both Sheena and Wydra discovered the wonders of Ichiraku ramen. A thought popped into her head as Shozaku, or one of the Wheel-Nin, had mentioned to her that Sheena shouldn't be in the presence of men. It was a miracle that the girl, now busy nibble-playing with the long strands of ramen noodles, had tolerated Teuchi-cook.

XXX

"Ah, that sounds like it could be very useful when you're trying to find something. If I could do something like that it wouldn't have taken me six months to find the rest of my family like it has. So are you the only person that hangs out where we're going or…?" He let the 'or' drag off as though she should finish it.

The only odd thing about him – the only clue that he either wasn't what he appeared or what he appeared – was that he always held his hands in front of him, in the same pose; as though halfway through the hand signs for a jutsu. The only time he stopped this was when he used his hands; but they'd always move back to that pose. He was also curious to see how Meiko might react if he walked a little closer to her. Not quite close enough to burst her personal bubble but closer than is normal. He'd only done this because he'd observed how she reacted to him so far, and was curious.

XXX

Inoichi was leaned against the wall, his legs locked into place with his hands behind his head as though taking a restful pose. He had indeed looked at Yukari a couple of times so the impression she had gotten would have been correct, except for everything that was going on within his head. Currently, his mind was a scary place as Yukari might soon find out. He would make sure his hands weren't visible by ninja means. Then, if nothing happened to make him pause or interrupt him, he'd do the hand signs for the family-famous technique and send his mind careening into Yukari's own.

The way that Inoichi pulled off his mind-takeover technique was smooth enough that Yukari gave no physical outward appearance that her mind had just been supplanted by another. The one in control, Ino's father, was years more talented than his daughter. So the Inoichi-controlled Yukari-mind, in the process of thinking it weird that Gilligan wasn't around, was pushed aside and subdued. Inoichi now had full access to her memories and bodily functions. The Shinobi was clever enough to leave his body in a position that betrayed nothing - given the fact that nobody was currently home in that blonde-pony tailed head of his.

Yukari would continue to act as normal for a span of thirty seconds, as that was all Inoichi needed. He had only waited this long to observe enough of her behavior so the ones around her wouldn't notice after such a short span of time. He quickly went over the events of last night; everything Yukari had seen and heard, and then left Yukari in full control. Returning to his own body, the mind-walker would leave the ramen shop and walk at a normal pace back towards his home.

Moments after he'd left, his shadow would become normal once more and he would look around as though suddenly aware of his own surroundings. Inoichi produced a hard look in his eyes, sighed; and spoke every so softly to himself.

"So it is done. May I never have dealings with such evil again."

Though he spoke in such soft volumes that you'd have to have your ear pressed to his mouth - or be have the Inuzuka clan hearing - to hear him. He made his way back home now at a much angrier walking pace.

XXX

Meiko gave a contented laugh as noticed Jack move slightly bit closer to her. Other than this initial entrance - which had startled her into flinching - she found Jack to be more and more her style; dark and gothic.

"Well, I often hang around with a few of the male genin in town, and that's where they normally gather to meet each other. But I highly doubt they'd be there now; I'm only an academ student, so what would I know." she smiled once more as the group of dogwood trees came into view. The group of trees would make a great rest spot of shade or hiding place.

"I've found that any kind of student knows a lot more than they let on. I'm pretty sure you do, don't you Meiko?" He smiled at her, winking just quickly enough to leave her wondering if he really had or not.

Just as they reached the dogwood trees Jack himself had asked her to lead them to – though he'd done most of the leading – the same figure that had followed Inoichi out of the house earlier stepped out from around a tree. Jack paused in his footsteps.

"Ah; if you'll excuse me just a moment." The figure stepped up. Since they were the same height, all it did was turn so that he was talking directly into Jack's ear. After a few seconds of this, Jack sighed.

"I thought it might have been something like that. I'll meet the two of you again shortly." After this, the figure stepped around Jack and suddenly disappeared from Meiko's view. Jack turned to her.

"I'm sorry but I've just gotten some important news, do you mind if we do this again sometime? I've got somewhere else I really need to be."

Meiko watched in annoyance as Jack left; leaving her alone by the dogwood tree. She thought she had a new friend, but now; wasn't so sure. Jack himself hadn't vanished, but rather walked quickly off in another direction. He paused momentarily to toss a black coin over his shoulder, back at Meiko.

"Hold on to that if you want to get in touch with me again, I can find that coin pretty easily." He said with his head turned towards her before continuing. He could have simply vanished but that would have revealed more at this time than he really wanted to, and normal walking always helped him think better. Meiko might now get the feeling she was being watched.

Meiko couldn't help but grin like the Cheshire cat as Jack threw her a way to contact him. "Thanks, I'll be sure to use it wisely!"

The coin was a simple tracking device; Jack's chakra was put into it so he could find it. If somebody tried to remove the coin's chakra; it would send Jack an alert; but other than that, the coin was an easy tracker.

Jack must have really made an impression on Meiko for her to talk so maturely. She tucked the coin into her waist pouch before leaning back against the blooming dogwood tree; a smile of bliss gracing her lips.


	18. Scroll 18

_**Scroll 18: Akadou Clan**_

Yukari flinched minutely as the Yamanaka withdrew from her head and left her area of view. She took it as a good sign that the blonde shinobi had decided not to approach her on the subject of Naruto or Ino. Finishing her bowl of ramen, Yukari looked around for Gilligan.

Wydra, turning her eyes away from Sheena, noticed Yukari looking around; then did the same. After realizing what was missing and what Yukari was probably looking for. "Looking for Gilligan? He does that a lot. Never tells us where he goes but he's usually not gone too long."

Sheena had finished her ramen and put the empty bowl up on the counter. She wasn't looking completely down anymore, but still seemed nervous. "Where should we go now?"

Yukari sat back after she had paid for the bowls of ramen, looking thoughtful.

"Do you girls like puppies?" She'd grinned happily.

Wydra nodded and smiled widely but Sheena looked confused. It's almost like she might never have seen a puppy before.

XXX

Across from the ramen shack, somebody was knocking on the door of Kensuke. The sounds of the person approaching were never heard.

"A puppy is soo cute, Sheena-san, you'll see." Yukari got up and exited the shack; only to stare at the person at the door opposite of the ramen joint.

Sheena blinked, but got to her feet and started to follow along. She too, paused to stare at the boy at Kensuke's door. The kid was dressed all in black, and looked to be about nine-years old. They even wore black fabric over the entirety of their head, but strangely still wore a pair of small round sunglasses over where their eyes would be. The moment Sheena stepped out of the ramen shop the person tensed and disappeared in a swirl of black smoke and tiny spiders. Wydra wheeled out a moment later, and Sheena had a snarl across her face and was growling rather loudly.

XXX

"What're you doing out here all by yourself Meiko?" Konohamaru would ask loudly as he walked into view; uncharacteristically alone.

"Beh, what you doing here, Konohamaru?" Meiko opened her red eyes and scowled at the boy that had interrupted her peaceful mind. "I thought you already showed me up in class today, brat." The old Meiko was back, and a bit sour.

"Hey, it wouldn't happen if you trained more; or maybe I'm just better than you." He stuck his tongue out. "And **I**…" Konohamaru dragged the word out just for emphasis. "Have a reason to be here, I'm meeting my friends. Were you just talking to yourself a minute ago?"

"No, I wasn't talking to myself. I just so happen to have found a boy that isn't a dipshit of sunshine and optimism like you, Konohamaru-chan." Meiko snarled out the 'chan' suffix in insult. "And THIS is Kiba-sama's team tree, you can't take it." She whipped her head the other way and turned up her nose.

Konohamaru laughed. "It's anybody's tree, I don't see his name on it and I don't smell Akamaru on it either. Who're you to tell me what I can and can't do? Last I heard, you were in big trouble for sneaking out in the middle of the night but got caught. I know I would've gotten away with it." He grumbled and turned to start walking back the way he'd came, having completely forgotten why he'd come here in the first place. Meiko was starting to piss him off and he was trying to avoid picking too big a fight with her.

Meiko looked back over her shoulder as an apology was on the tip of her tongue. But Konohamaru was two steps too far for her pride. She jammed her hands into her blue-pant pockets and mumbled as she turned to head home; dreading the punishment that awaited her once she faced her father: Hibachi.

XXX

Yukari blinked, and within that time frame, had a series of three nin stars between her fingers. However, before she could do anything more; obnoxious laughter rang through the street as a group of six or eight male chuunin walked down the large, dirt path. Those once astonished scarlet eyes turned from the spot that spider-boy and towards the swaggering group of testosterone before narrowing dangerously.

"Oh shit. Sheena, Wydra…either you go to my place or high-tail yourselves to the Wheel-nin camp or go back into Ichiraku right now."

She shifted herself between the two girls and the approaching group of men; putting her nin stars back into her pack. Her hair, using the minimum amount of chakra; grew fluffed outward; almost as to hide the two girls behind her and block the view of the chuunin group. The group was just a brewing kettle time-bomb. They all were the Akadou Clan. Both that clan and hers were two of the twenty-five major clans that ruled the Konoha council. However, the Akadou's number was much more significant than hers; nearly two hundred and ninety to her ten clan members - not a good thing for Yukari Uzaruki at all. Now, if Yukari could get them to piss off without angering their clan, she would be happy the rest of the week.

Wydra reached into her pack and pulled out a glowing golden wheel. She did a few quick hand signs and dropped it to the ground, letting it roll around the building before finishing the jutsu that would send it off like a fire-work back to the Wheel-nin camp. With a now free hand she'd cover Sheena's mouth and shake her head, as if to say: 'We don't want to cause problems for Yukari.'

The two girls didn't, however, make any motion to do any of the orders Yukari had given. Sheena pulled her chains a little tighter about herself and Wydra seemed a little more focused and balanced on her unicycle.

Yukari stood up straighter as the Akadou group spotted her near Kensuke's apartment door. The leader chuckled and nudged his buddies as they veered towards her.

"Look who we have here, Jeruo; the little Uzaruki-brat."

The group followed, with their eyes, to the person of which Hisao-sensei pointed to. They grinned and switched towards her direction as they offered catcalls and lewd whistles.

"Look, Hisao-sama, I was just getting something out of this apartment here and was going to be on my way." Yukari spoke evenly through clenched teeth. She knew the Akadou clan was slimy and low on morals. Sure it was rumored that they had supported the scum known as Orochimaru, but that wasn't why she detested them. It was because they were just plain worthless in the normal daily life. These Akadou chuunin acted high and mighty and that just pissed her off.

"Look, Yukari-chan…" Hisao leaned against the wall and smiled down at her. "We don't want any trouble now, either, but you are in our way, so you're going to have to move. You see?" the haughty tone of Hisao sent his friends into a chuckling fit. "And if you don't see it to be wise enough to move yourself from our path, we're going to have to defend our honor."

Yukari dared not look over her shoulder to see if the two girls were there or not, but she also realize that if she chose the easy path and simply give in to their demands; she'd be revealing the two behind her. That choice of revealing the girls simply wasn't going to happen.

"Uhh, I seem to be unable to move at the moment, Hisao-sama; but there is plenty road enough for you if you'd forget about me and move on." _And use the pissin' bloody road, you morons._ Yukari's mental voice finished for her.

The villagers that were on the street began to take notice of the ninja-like interaction that was currently taking place across from the Ichiraku Ramen Shack. They all veered in their paths to give the group of Akadou nin a wide berth. Yukari took this in with her sharp eyes, and groaned inwardly as she felt the nervous tension roll off the hapless villagers. This was – unfortunately – going to either turn out to be a drunken tavern brawl or a public humiliation for her. She just prayed that it would be the humiliation.

"You little brat!" Hisao frowned and pushed off the wall and cocked his fist back; letting it fly forward into Yukari's nose. She yelped in utter surprise - not expecting such a quick, violent reaction. Yukari stumbled backwards, her hands flying up to her face to hold her nose.

The action that Hisao took was the worst possible avenue of choices. Sheena had already been made very uncomfortable by their presence; the way they smelled, acted and their numbers. At about the point his fist connected with Yukari's face, Sheena blacked out for a split-second while a grim memory of a particularly important head flying through the air replayed itself in her mind. As Yukari stumbled backwards, Wydra would grab her and pull her to the side while Hisao would suddenly find a large number of jagged chains around his arm.

"MOMMAAAAAAAAA!" Was the only comprehensible thing coming out of Sheena's mouth amidst a storm of demonic screeching.

Hisao's eyes went wide as he found his arm in the tight, deadly grip of chains. Sheena would yank and he would either lose the arm or be pulled towards a now pissed off and deadly little girl. Even as she yanked, a chainsaw like noise was heard as all the chains on her unwrapped and went out to attack Hisao and anybody behind him, Akadou or not.

While pulling Yukari to the side, Wydra kicked her unicycle up off the ground and launched it towards the Akadou ninjas. The wheel transformed, becoming ten times its previous size, and spun. Its only aim was to shove the ninja group and any innocent by-standers out of harm's way.

XXX

Shozaku got the golden wheel around the same time Barokendo heard the scream. They were on opposite sides of the village though. Shozaku hauled ass, boosting his speed in every way possible. Barokendo sunk into the ground, and along the streets of Konoha a large traveling bump could be seen, the tips of spikes coming out of it to cut at any that stayed in its way, and shoved aside all people and obstacles.

Yukari, who had rebounded from being hit and shoved out of the way by Wydra, took her bloody hands from her face to performed a long, but quick, series of hand signs – before slamming her hands down to summon a trio of horse-sized eagles. Dipping into her chakra again, her hair – going from dandelion fluff to spider web-thin – surrounded the immediate area with large, centimeter-thin strands that created a spider web. Her hopes were to use the web to stop any advancing chains that Sheena would send until Yukari could calm her down.

The three air raptors that she summoned; one for her, one for Sheena and one for Wydra – all female eagles – lifted the girls onto their backs and took to the sky; hoping to minimize casualties on ground. The hair-made spider web assisted Wydra's Unicycle wheel in holding back the rest of the fight-lusting Akadou nin and civilians. However, since she was still resting her chakra reserves, Yukari fought to keep from blacking from both a pained nose and chakra-exhaustion.

With her destruction broken in a way she wasn't familiar with; Sheena's violence was momentarily disrupted enough so that the leading Akadou nin retained his arm. However, as she was lifted away; several fingers were severed. Hisao's arm was shattered as several deep lacerations would become covered in dirt. This was because the chains had shoved him over to the ground as they unwrapped from around their prey. Her original target no longer in sight, the chains changed target and had begun to wrap around the eagle she was on.

Fortunately, for her and not the Akadou, Sheena saw signs of her brothers approach and immediately calmed down - at least until her anger subsided into heavy breathing and angry looks. Wydra's unicycle, having completed its mission, zoomed back through the air until it was attached once more to her back. Wydra turned towards Yukari and, if they weren't far enough apart shouted:

"Are you okay? What the hell just happened? Who the FUCK were they?" Normally, she didn't use strong language. Kentarou-sama had disapproved of that, believing it to be a sign of lacking intelligence.

By this time, Shozaku had gotten close enough to gather what might've happened, and changed directions. He came by Skiminachi, who had recently finished his conversation with the 5th. All he did was point towards the eagles the trio was on, as the cook had noticed him, and shouted: "LAUNCH ME!"

He jumped into the big man's hands, which had grown in size, and was launched into the air with enough force that he could maneuver onto Yukari's eagle on his own. Suddenly, Yukari's eagle would have an extra companion as Shozaku – purposefully or not, one would never know – moved his hands around her waist to steady her and gave himself balance.

"What the hell is going on here?" His words echoed Wydra's.

Making an effort in turning around, Yukari, once again, brought her hands to her bleeding nose.

"I not…a clan war…bastard Akadou…" She managed to grunt a few words before swaying on her eagle. The eagle, intelligent enough to be sentient, took the lead of the flock of three and angled towards an open space further away from the fighting hotspot and apartment complexes.

Once it found an open enough space, the eagles landed and vanished with a puff of clouds. Yukari allowed herself to black out after seeing the two girls were unharmed – and with no threats in the area.

Shozaku caught Yukari as she blacked out, momentarily resisting the urge to give her a squeeze. He wasn't a gambler for nothing. He calmly laid her down and straddled her, putting his hands one-over-the-other on her chest and heart. Remembering what Joma had taught him, he did a chakra version of CPR. He pumped chakra back into her like he was trying to get her heart to work again and get chakra flowing through her system. If that didn't work, he would give her mouth-to-mouth to get the chakra in quicker to the rest of her drained network.

Next to them, Wydra would be holding a crying Sheena who was in turn holding – as it looked like Gilligan had returned – a large teddy bear.

XXX

Again, the same kid was knocking on Kensuke's door as though oblivious to the other kind of action or danger around him.

XXX

Yukari's system would accept the inflow of chakra slowly - like water on bone-parched ground - before soaking it up like a soft sponge. She coughed twice and allowed her crimson eyes to pop open, turning her head sideways so she wouldn't choke on the blood that was circulating around the back of her throat.

"WHAT THE F-" her voice would say as yet another cough, splattering blood on the dirt next to her. She hadn't known Shozaku's lips were on hers, but it was just as well that the contact was broken as she was coming around into consciousness.

In location that Yukari had just abandoned – as a ninja vs. ninja scuffle would inevitably bring other ninja down upon the fight – the closest shinobi and a single ANBU would rush in to access the situation. As more ninja rushed in to surround the Akadou group; others would respond to Yukari's situation, eight blocks away: tending to the damage.

With the approaching situation – most wouldn't know it was Baro – the responding nin would see was a traveling large bump in the ground that spikes rotated in and out of. As this reached the Akadou, a few of them would simply just drop into the ground, only to be spat back out a few seconds later, mangled and beaten, but still very much alive. Sensing other ninja coming in, Baro sped up knowing others might step in to stop him, and the other Akadou between him and Hisao would be thrown to the side with cuts and gashes along their lower halves.

If the responding Konoha ninja realized that Hisao was the target, they could have saved him from the world of pain that beneath-earth Barokendo would inflect upon the aggressor.

If they were quick enough to pull Hisao away from Barokendo before he finished his work; the Akadou group leader would just loose a foot. If not, the unlucky man would sink complete beneath the ground into Barokendo's lair.

None of the ninja did this, so it was in stunned awe that Konoha ninja watched as Hisao vanished into the ground; swallowed up by the very earth. The Akadou looked around in fear, hoping they wouldn't be the next. However the only reason they survived was because Baro had picked a single target against his time constraints.

Hisao, still howling in pain and outrage was completely taken unawares as Barokendo had effectively performed the equivalent of earth-style Inner decapitation - which would literally allow the victim to drop into a sinkhole up to their neck. As more ANBU arrived, the panicked civilians had evacuated the area in fear.

_There'll be repercussions from this event._ The responding Konoha ninjas thought. _And they wouldn't be good at all._

Barokendo wanted to keep going. A deep, inner hatred of just about everything and a general need for murder and gore almost compelled him to completely mutilate Hisao's body before the Konoha ninjas managed to pull Hisao out of the ground. But the same thing that brought Barokendo to that violent state of mind was the same thing that pulled him out – the image of his little sister; safe and sound. Kentarou's voice echoed in his mind. "Please, try to keep whatever problems you cause, because there will be problems, to a minimum."

So, as the more ANBU responded to chaotic chain of events the Akadou started; Barokendo opted not to jump out and attack them in blood-lust. He just sank completely into the ground and disappeared. He hoped none of them pursued him; that would not end well at all.

The groups of newly arrived ninja were quickly taking charge of the situation and restored order to the scene. Leading the Akadou group away, the unlucky med-ninjas stepped forward to deal with the wrecked mess that was Hisao.

XXX

"Oh thank the Circle you're alright!" Shozaku hugged Yukari for a moment before getting off of her and holding out a hand to help her off the ground. "I don't know what exactly happened but since I've been with them a long time, I can only assume that that one…" He pointed to Sheena. "…had a very bad flashback and shit hit the fan. I don't know why you blacked out but I brought you back. So, what exactly happen –" Shozaku didn't quite finish the question, as he'd stepped back to avoid getting bowled over as Sheena flew through the air to tackle-hug Yukari, still crying.

XXX

Eight blocks away, the ninjas that were currently placing the Akadou offenders under political arrest really had no intention of going after Barokendo - none of them had that strong an earth-style. So they contented themselves with clearing and cleaning up the area and ask questions of just how the 'shit hit the fan' as Shozaku put it.

XXX

"AAAKK!" Yukari braced herself against the dirt with her hands as, the second after she managed to sit up; she was knocked onto her back again by a frantic Sheena. "Yo, chill out, chibi-san. I'm ok, OOWWW! MY NOSE, DAMN IT!" The slowing nosebleed splattered some drops on the both of them as Sheena glomped with a hug.

"Uuuugh, Oh Shozaku, great - just great. Those Akadou bastards -ow...uh...- hit me the nose because I mouthed off to them or it could have been because I was using Naruto's favorite watering hole. The village adults have a hatred of him and the Akadou, more so for some reason – reason enough to drag shit against his friends; namely me." Yukari's speaking sounded nasal-clogged as a blonde, female med-nin knelt down to start working on the injury.

Sheena wasn't phased by Yukari's dripping blood, as any normal child her age should be. She didn't let go of Yukari however, because she felt horrible – as she saw it – for making a bad situation worse for her. She had stopped crying, though her face was still tear-streaked, and stared at the med-nin as if to say 'one wrong move and I'll eat you.'

At the moment, however, just about anybody but her Wheel-comrades and Yukari would get that deadly look. A slight rumbling was heard, as Barokendo no longer had a reason to make his approach stealthy.

"Oh? Let me guess, he did it out of nowhere, and had probably been leaning up against the wall just talking before then?" Shozaku asked, one hand slowly performing a face-palm. He shook his head. His ocular use of seeing the truth added confusion to the comment. "Never mind. Do you think the Akadou are gonna go after you when a few of their ninja pop up dead?"

Yukari put an arm around Sheena as the med-nin continued the healing work on her nose. "I honestly couldn't care less if they all died, but I'm in no position to retaliate. The Akadou clan, no doubt, is going to pull this shit onto the Village Council and, I think on a hunch here, have you Wheel-nin expelled from the village." Her voice trembled with pain – pain that grew less as the minutes ticked by during the healing.

"Piss it, all. This isn't what I wanted..." That arm would tighten slightly as Yukari's red eyes blazed in dread, anger and sadness. "I'm sorry Sheena-san, I didn't mean to upset you."

"It wasn't you, it was that guy. He just reminded me of when my mom died…" She hugged Yukari a little tighter at the words. Wydra sat, leaned up against Yukari's back while Gilligan was still being clenched tightly by Sheena's other arm.

"Is that the name of the person that hit you?" Barokendo's voice could be heard, moving under them, as moments later he emerged halfway out of the ground right behind Yukari. He looked down, and for a moment all the rage, anger and hatred disappeared from his face as he saw Yukari put an arm around Sheena.

"You and I need to talk later, red-kunoichi." This time, his voice didn't carry the commanding, violent tone. His voice was curious and informative, but the moment passed, and he was back to normal large-n-scary Barokendo.

"If Hisao's the one that hit you, he's either dead or he won't be talking any time soon. And we were planning on leaving soon anyway, weren't we Shozaku?" Barokendo nodded solemnly.

"Yea, that's his name, Hisao Akadou, not even from the main branch family." She lifted her eyes to view Barokendo and then dropped them again as the med-nin finished and stepped back. Yukari smirked as she wiggled her face in an effort to get the kids to laugh - but she was testing the newly healed nose.

"Tch, thanks, Hani-san. I don't doubt that I'll be asked to report later, Hani-sensei, but just not right now. Ok?"

"Aye, Uzaruki-san, I understand. I shall tell Ichibika-sama that you'll not skip out on the responsibility of this skirmish." the Med-Nin bowed to both Yukari and Shozaku before turning to Barokendo – her pale eyes shining with an inner light.

"Are you one of the Wheel-nin that came to the village days ago?" the extrovert-woman would ask. She wore a regular blue and green chuunin outfit, but had a kimono-styled sleeve and half-chest jacket that made her stand out from the rest of the chuunin. The swirled print was pink as the rest of it was white. What was that look on her face? Was it a look of piqued curiosity or a blush?

"I would not consider myself among their number but rather that I owe my obedience to their previous leader and am acting on his last wishes, so I travel with them. Why do you ask?" He answered a little less violently than normal, he seemed…almost caught up in watching the small children laugh at Yukari's antics. Calm moments like this were rare for him, and he took what he could get. He answered without turning to look at this Hani woman that had asked him a question. The large giant barely noticed that she was the one asking at the moment. Shozaku, having his attention focused elsewhere nearby, quietly slipped away.


	19. Scroll 19

_**Scroll 19: Puppies**_

As the area cleared out, the spider-boy knocked once again on Kensuke's door. The ANBU nin wasn't there today, so nobody answered. However, the adjacent property owner - obviously rubbernecking the aftermath - looked at the kid and shook his head.

"Sorry, kid, nobody's home today."

The little kid turned and spoke. His voice seemed to reek of fear; whether he had it or gave it was a mystery. But at the moment, he sounded worried, and very urgent. "Do you know where he is? There is something I need to ask him."

The old man that was the ANBU's neighbor shrugged and shook his head.

"No, I don't rightly know that ANBU's location, but you can check the Uzaruki Clan house a fraction mile from here. They might know since that ANBU interacts with them."

The child would nod, and turn as though to walk that way. He knew the layout of the village, but didn't have the skills one of his brothers had for locating people. As he turned, he'd disappear in puff of black smoke and a large spider would be standing in his place – a spider that crawled up the wall past the helpful neighbor. Then it would jump from roof top to rooftop until he got to his destination. He'd change back, then stand around and look for the appropriate door to knock on.

After the kid knocked twice on the traditional-built Japanese estate, the brown wooden gate - the only interruption of the ten-foot high grey-rock barrier wall that surrounded the three acres of the main Uzaruki home - opened and there stood a beautiful woman. Wearing a classic white and pink-swirled decor kimono that accentuated her tightly bun-black hair, the woman gazed down at the boy with crystal blue eyes.

Behind the woman, was a sulking Meiko, who, by appearances, looked like she had just walked through the same gate moments before.

"Konichiwa, child. What do you need?" Maisuke Kushina Uzaruki smiled softly to the child.

"I'm attempting to find Kensuke so I can get a word or two with him. Also, my brother wishes to know if Meiko is home as well. Are they here?" The child asked, all of his features hidden behind various bits of clothing and sunglasses. He spoke without contempt, conceit, or just about any emotion at the moment except a subtle sense of urgency.

Yukari's mother blinked and smiled again. "I'm sorry, I do not know where my son is at the moment. But Meiko-chan is here." It was now that the woman turned around and extended an invitation to enter. "Meiko-chan, one of your friends is here."

Meiko stood up from sitting on the front step to run, almost gleefully, away from her awaiting inside punishment.

"HI THERE!" She'd call out.

The child reached a hand up and flicked himself on the forehead. There wasn't any sort of poof, and any looking would barely sense chakra being used, but there was an image switch and suddenly Jack was standing in his place. They hadn't made any move to hide this, assuming people would take it as just another ninja clan's skill. "Hello there! I see you haven't been confined inside just yet, eh?"

Meiko smiled upwards to her mother as the eight-year old quickly exited through the stout gate and kicked it shut. "Hi Jack, are you done with what you had to do yet?"

She smiled, now, at Jack nodded. "I just got back when you knocked. Thanks for allowing me to not stay to face my Tou-san."

"Looks like I got here just in time then, and I'll always help somebody get away from their parents." He looked around and held up his hands as if to say 'where should we go now?' before continuing to talk. "For now yes. My brothers and I tend to work in a team, though over time, and it's not my part that's needed right now. Do you have your own team yet?"

"Yea, I do, but I don't think I'll be pairing up with them when I graduate in six months. Kaiko and Hanna are a few of my other friends." Meiko allowed her eyes to scan to the left, then the right to see if any ninja were around before opening her mouth to speak: "I have a hidden hideout a few houses from here, wanna go there?"

"Ah, you don't get to decide who you're paired with here either?" He thought about it for a moment. "Sure, why not? A hidden hideout in a hidden village sounds like fun." As he walked, unless he was making a gesture with his arms or using them for something he usually kept them folded, but with each hand clasping the opposing elbow as opposed to resting on the arms like most.

"Yea I go there when my older siblings are home. They pester me to work on my ninja skills. I hate it when they do that." The Uzaruki girl led them to a fairly large oak tree that twisted up like a corkscrew. The height of the tree was at least five stories tall and some of the gnarled roots were waist high. She pointed to a root near the fence that the tree had partially grew onto. "Here is the entrance." She pulled back a flap of bark to reveal a hollow hole. "The root systems create a small cave underground."

She wriggled into the hole that was perfectly sized for her and dropped down nearly three feet. "C'mon!"

XXX

Wydra, deciding to break up the tense, quiet situation, poked Yukari in the side. "You said something about puppies, right?"

"Puppies, yea! Of course!" Yukari tore her eyes away from the blossoming scene of friendship that Hani started with the still-scary-to-Yukari Barokendo. "The Inuzukas have just recently produced a new litter of pups, and Kiba-san said I could come over to play with them." She'd smile as she finally acknowledged Gillian with a smirk. "How about we go over there before the Akadou come back and bite me in the ass?"

"Let's go!" Wydra said, standing in front of Yukari and next to Gilligan. "Don't worry! This time we'll protect you from those jerks!"

Sheena still had one of her hands wrapped around Yukari's. Now that the situation wasn't quite so tense, Yukari might notice a bit more about Sheena's hands. They were scarred all over. Her hands had gashes here, patches of warped skin there and she was missing her middle finger nail. It looked like that pattern continued down her arm, but that was well-hidden beneath the chains she always wore.

Hani Takimoto smiled and nodded to acknowledge Barokendo's words. "I was wondering if you would be available enough tonight for a drink or two." It seems that some Konoha women weren't at all shy.

Barokendo turned, and it looked as if he was about to give a rather…unpleasant rejection. He blinked, and a surprised look came across his face.

"That now seems possible. Where would you be drinking? Remember, I don't fit into most places very well…" The words came at a struggle, as though something now weighed very heavily on his mind.

Yukari smirked at BaRoKenDo and Hani-san's flirtings. Hani always had a thing for big, large men - it was prime cliché teasing fodder that her friends always used. But Hani didn't care as she said:

"My Takimoto clan house has a large open area in back for training. I can always use that for anything. And I suspect that you can fit just fine out there as we have an open bar."

Barokendo looked up, talking as if to nobody in particular. "You have a lot of explaining to do…" Before he turned towards Hani, he watched as Yukari stood up and smile at the children.

"I'm following my friend's advice; where will you be later? I have a meeting I need to be at sometime within the next few hours. Assuming there are no complications with my associate later, I will see you there." He nodded to her and walked away, his footsteps falling heavy as he didn't feel a need for stealth.

Hani blushed and nodded; and, taking a quick look around the clearing that Yukari's eagles had landed to see if it was all clear, Hani went her own way.

The Uzaruki heir nodded at retreating BaRoKenDo as she took the three kids and headed towards the Inuzuka district to see the puppies. Yukari looked down at Sheena's hands and pondered if the scars could be healed by the Hokage. The red-eyed girl wasn't at all disgusted, just looking for an avenue to make people feel better about themselves.

"So, Gilligan-kun have you ever seen a puppy before?"

"Yeah, we had a few of them back in my home village once." Gilligan responded. He even held up his hand and produced a small clay model of a generic puppy, the kind everybody might think of when they think 'puppy'. Wydra was on her unicycle once more, as the thing had returned to them while they'd been talking, and Sheena just walked along, back to her usual self though she did stick closer to Yukari.

Yukari and the three little kid-nins made their way to the Inuzuka district, in which Yukari knocked on the Clan's breeding house door and was greeted by Hana-san, Kiba's older sister.

"Hi there Hana-san, I brought some kids here for you to test your new pups on!"

Hana Inuzuka, looking frizzled and frazzled, laughed in mirth as the ten or so squiggling brown, black and white puppies came barreling out in a mass of fur and yips as the young canines smelled fresh playthings – namely the three children and older Yukari. Yukari joined in Hana's laughter as she ushered her group into the compound; the puppies following after.

The group of yipping and energetic puppies mass-surged the children; all of the four-legged beasts wanting to smell, lick, paw and play with Gilligan, Sheena and Wydra.

Sheena would more than likely have an after-smell of blood, as though she had been in a pretty bad fight recently and just needed to bathe. Gilligan clapped his hands and surged forward himself to play with the puppies, even going so far as to act like one. Wydra didn't go quite that far but she did pet them and let herself be licked by them. Sheena sort of tensed up, never having seen a puppy before and unfamiliar with this behavior. She knew her normal 'attack' response wouldn't be appropriate here so she just kind of froze and looked up at Yukari for direction.

The puppies yapped and went crazy as mostly all of them ganged up on Gilligan. It just so happened that the puppies were the right age in discovering how to 'play-wrestle'. It was heaven for them as they tumbled, climbed, fell, rolled, pounced, bounced and wriggled all around Gilligan.

A few of the calmer puppies wagged their tails at Wydra; their tongues licking to taste the new, new human and to catalog her.

Once the majority of the puppies understood that Sheena wasn't at all interesting, they moved on to Yukari, Gilligan or Wydra. However, a small pup; black with a few white splots, stayed to further investigate Sheena and her chains. Putting its nose on the metal and Sheena's legs, the fur ball worked its nose in trying to find out just what the chains were.

"Hehehe, it seems you've made a friend there, Sheena-san." Yukari hadn't moved that far away from Sheena – only taking a step or two due to the effect of moving puppies had on her feet. The kunoichi was currently pulling her ankle-length ponytail away and out of the puppy's mouth that was playing with it: more like Yukari was teasing the puppy with the pulled-back hair. "These things love hands, you can pet them with your hands, Sheena-san!"

Sheena blinked awkwardly, looking down at the puppy that was nosing itself against her chains. Their immediate reaction was to slowly tighten themselves up to prevent entry, and the chains did rather hesitantly because it wasn't an attack. But following Yukari's advice, she blinked a few more times, quivered momentarily as though taking a nervous breath, and began to pet the puppy. She could tell the dog was nice, and it was trying to see what was lying underneath, and even though she kind of liked it so far she wouldn't let it see her always-hidden-body just yet.

The puppy jumped back, and assumed the 'play' position - which was why its tail was wagging a mile a minute. The other puppies were now a squirming mass of fur on Gilligan. Yukari just laughed as she sat down with Sheena's puppy and let the other two bite her ponytail.

Sheena slowly swatted at the puppy's tail. She didn't want anything go to fast, because she had a tendency to think just about anything could be turned into a fight. It was almost adorable, how cautious and nervous this normally scary girl was. Gilligan continued to roll around with the puppies, at one point actually becoming a rolling mass of fur, before turning into a number of teddy bears equal to the puppies and having a mock battle with them. Wydra was just playing with whichever happened to wander up.

XXX

"Haha, holes in the ground. Father once got nostalgic and said that's what his great and powerful nation started out as: a small village of nothing more than a few holes in the ground." Jack hoped that his slip didn't make her prod for more info, it would just get awkward. He was just a little bigger than her so it might've seemed like he didn't fit, but he squeezed thin and, if you were looking close enough, his joints sort of squished together until he fit down the hole, landing next to Meiko.

"So this is your hiding hole, eh? My kind of place; all dark and quiet." He'd smile mischievously as he looked around.

Meiko smiled at Jack and allowed her red eyes to widen in interest. "Really? A hole in the ground grows to be a village. I would have loved to see that!" She used her nin skills to strike a match and light a stubby candle on a plank of wood and illuminate the six-foot by six-foot hole.

"Is that where your village is, Jack?" Meiko's words might have surprised him; making her look not so daft in the head. "Underground?"

"Not entirely. Father found it necessary to have places above ground, so he made sure they were included…" it was awkward having to word things so he didn't let on to too much. Normally he either didn't care, or didn't talk. He looked around at the hole itself. "So you spend a lot of your time in here?" Sounds of footsteps in the area above could be heard.

"Yea, at least three times a week I come here to get away from my annoying sisters." Meiko spoke softer as she, too, heard the footsteps. The footsteps stopped for a moment, and Jack continued.

"What do your sisters do that's so bad? I've only ever had one."

"Yukari is so strong and optimistic it makes me sick. Mai is completely useless as an Uzaruki, since she doesn't have the Akashingan trait." Meiko scowled as she spoke of her other siblings. Just then, a figure stepped out of the candle-made-shadows behind Jack and spoke:

"Well, it's been done for awhile now. I didn't want to disturb you so I went off to relieve some stress. Eyeballs got pretty pissed though, but he didn't know what was going on until it was too late, so you should expect trouble from him soon…" the mysterious kid paused for a moment to examine Meiko. This was the kid that had entered and spoken was the same one that had come looking for Kensuke earlier, and same one that had asked if Meiko was home. If she didn't say or do anything, he'd take a breath like he was going to continue.

Meiko looked wearily at the other intruder of her hideout. "Who are you!" She let her lip curl in surprise. "Are you another Jack or something!"

"Kind of…" The two of them said at once. Jack continued speaking. "I'm one of three out of triplets, he is the second. The third is the one you saw leaving with that Mind-walker earlier. Anyway…" Jack turned towards his brother. "I'll meet up with whom ever is present later. If she is under control, then you're free to do as you wish for now."

"The three of us are pretty close. I hope that didn't dampen the mood too much." Jack would smile and wink at her ever so slightly.

With that, the second brother started to just walk backwards, and was fading into the shadows when he flickered and in his place was the third brother, the one with the hood and all of his features hidden. He looked around, shrugged, and climbed back up out of the hole.


	20. Scroll 20

_**Scroll 20: Healing the Sick**_

The Hokage looked at the six plus two ANBU that currently stood in front of her desk. Kakashi Hatake, newly released from the Med-unit in good health, was posted further back, his body leaning against the wall next to the door.

"So basically what you're telling me is that this group of Akadou nin were seeking to creating a disturbance large enough to scare the village council to throw our visitors out of the village?" The busty woman huffed out in annoyance.

"Yes, that is exactly what Hisao Akadou told us. However, he was acting independently from the Clan leader's faction. I personally think that Akadou-san was drunk and itching to start a fight with the first person he saw; which, unfortunately, was the Uzaruki heiress." The speaking nin – Tomoe Haru – pointed to the report that had just been handed in only minutes earlier. "I also think that Hisao-san is blaming his misfortune on the children, when it was he who instigated the attack. Some of the Akadou group must have reported directly to the Akadou leader and registered a complaint."

"I see…" The Hokage tore her eyes from the report and nailed them on Kakashi. "I suppose its time to begin that mission now, Hatake-san. I'm giving you an hour's notice to prepare before I want you, Uzaruki-san and three others that you shall choose to report back to me for a debriefing."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. A team of five – I'm assuming that Sakura-chan will be busy with her training?" the copycat ninja asked a rhetorical question. "I'll have to end up choosing three other chuunin."

The nonchalant pose of the jounin made the other chuunin in the room slightly nervous that the jounin just might immediately pick a few of them. Of course some of the emotions of a few of them were due to the awe that Kakashi had managed to create for himself over the years.

"May I interject something, Hokage-sama?" A short, red-dyed haired chuunin spoke up. The woman; aged around mid-thirties wore her blue and green standard chuunin suit with slightly less pride than her comrades around her. Her name, Aisoko Honda, was not a reflection on her features. Being shorter than her friends, the 5-foot tall woman was specialized in the art of natural camouflage – so it was rather normal to see bits of grass and leaves sticking out of her short red-hair.

"You may, Honda-san." The Hokage replied.

"It may stand to be investigated that the force that attacked just yesterday might be responsible for the Akadou group's behavior. I know I would try and form alliances with some of the villagers that harbor my enemies." The leafy-decorated woman was sharp on possibilities that made the Hokage nod in thought.

"You may be right, Honda-san. However – true or not – I've decided to stick to the plan of action that the Wheel-nin bartered out with me. They wished to have a team of five escort them while they form alliances with our allied villages." The blonde-haired woman scribbled down her thoughts on the half-filled paper before her. "I will take this into consideration, Honda-san. Chuunin, Dismissed!"

The group of reporting chuunin bowed at the waist and vanished – just how they all got out of the room when the door was shut was one of those mysterious ninja secrets.

There was a momentary pause before a knock on Tsunade's office door interrupted the quiet room. The person who entered was one of the medical nin that usually worked at the main hospital. This medic was known as Curitsu; and was one to follow rules like waiting to be called in. But she had broken that rule as she entered with the most confused and awed look on her face.

Curitsu was a woman with unruly red hair; mixed randomly with black locks. One of her eyes was a metallic blue and the other was bright yellow. These oddities in her appearance were there because the med-nin enjoyed playing with her appearance and surgically altering them herself. She was around 6ft tall, and her physique was that of a lithe, yet strongly muscled woman - a result of the training she had put herself through. She wore her usual standard med-nin suit, and her headband had an etched symbol for 'life' under the normal symbol.

"I apologize for walking in, and I would have instantly reported if this event was bad, but something quite…amazing has happened, Tsunade-sama."

The Hokage, who just had dismissed Kakashi to prepare for the upcoming mission lifted her head upwards to look ponderously at Curitsu and smiled.

"What has happened!" the hokage asked.

Curitsu just paused for a moment, starting and stopping a sentence a few times before taking a deep breath. "At the hospital…everything is fine. Everybody's been...cured of whatever sickness they had, recovered from whatever injury they were under. The terminally ill are in good health and even the few suffering Genjutsu mental side-effects are stable now."

"WHAT!" The Hokage bolted to her feet and slammed the desk both her hands in astonishment. "When did this happen!"

"Well, like I said, everybody's been cured. And it happened almost right after Hatake-sama left the hospital; and seemed to take place over the span of a few hours. I was off-duty today but came to cover for a friend of mine. When I got there, everybody was unconscious; asleep due to a genjutsu that seemed to have a wide range of effects. Even those we thought incurable, such as the terminally ill or the coma patients, are now a good nights rest and some food away from going home. I came to inform you…and ask what we should do now. Do we just let it happen or investigate to find out who did this?"

Curitsu let her hands hang at her sides, at a loss for further words. She just sort of chuckled, not quite energetic enough to laugh but the whole situation just...took her breath away.

"Shizune!" The Hokage called out, and in a few minutes that seemed like hours, Shizune appeared at the door; holding the knob in one hand and Tonton in the other.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" the black-haired woman answered.

"See was files you can find on all those med-center patients that I had either yet to cure or were terminally ill!" Tsunade looked fierce with her brown eyes as Shizune managed enough information to pass into her head to look stunned.

"R-right away, Tsunade-sama. Can, I ask why the sudden interest in the terminally ill patients?"

"Not right now, Shizune-san, however, I want you and Sakura-chan to meet me at the Med-Center in five minutes; with as many files on those patients as possible!"

"Y-Yes, of course!" Shizune still looked puzzled, but bowed and, still having Tonton in her arm; rushed off to fulfill the order that she was just given.

Tsunade came out from behind her desk and motioned to Curitsu to follow her to the Medical building. The Hokage's mind was racing with the information and endless hypothesis.

Curitsu got up and followed along behind Tsunade. At the moment, she wasn't doing anything other than following and wondering how this miracle could've happened.

If one was looking, various people in Konoha, shinobi and not, would appear to have one more eye than they should; most times not on their faces and very small.

Tsunade was in a huff as she made her way into the Medical building, more precisely, the terminally ill ward. There, the twelve or so patients that she had yet to cure or hadn't been able to since she arrived to Konohagakure, were in great health and talking to the surprised med-nin on duty. The Hokage struck out to find two certain individuals; namely Yuro Maso and Crystania Hyuuga Jokou. Yuro Maso, she vaguely remembered, was part of Team 13. The fact that he was conscious was something she would have to address soon, as Yukari was currently filling in Sasuke's place on Naruto's team 7.

XXX

Crystania Hyuuga Jokou was a freak, a reject and shunned; outcast from the most prominent clan in the village. Being from a far-flung branch family of the Hyuuga Clan, the crystal-silver eyed girl was seriously deformed from the moment the main family placed the Caged Bird curse on her – it had left her deformed and blind in her right eye. Her right eye was not the Byakugan that it should have been, but a crystallized orb of chakra due to the effects of the Caged Bird Seal had on her genetics. Since the cause of her deformity had been pinned to the Seal, the black-haired girl had been used by her fellow Hyuuga as a test subject. She had been a lab rat all her life, until she managed to flee from her clan's medical center during the Sand-Sound Invasion – taking advantage of the confusion to escape. Her mental capacity had rivaled that of Neji's, but her scarred and mal-formed limbs were unable to perform even the normal of ninjutus. This fact and the severe lack of reliable ninja training had left her unable to survive without medical assistance.

One of the medical nin saw Tsunade walking up and finished what he was doing quickly so he could walk up and report. Or rather, he handed his clipboard to Curitsu and walked off to pick up another one, going to interview another one of the patients. Curitsu looked over the board and then turned to Tsunade.

"Ah, some good news it would seem. Yuro Maso here…" he pointed to indicate. "Along with another one of the coma patients; Abisu…" He pointed to a bed next to Yuro's. "Are the only ones that remember seeing those responsible for what happened here? I have what they said in the short time they were awake written down here."

XXX

While Yukari and the kids were playing with the puppies, Kakashi had made his errands to prepare for the mission. He had gone and asked not only Genma – the senbon toothpick user – but his comrade and Yukari's other sensei: Otou. He had also left a message to tell the medical team-trained kunoichi, Hani Takimoto, to report for the mission. Then, he set up a system of communiqué to allow things to proceed smoothly in his and Yukari's absence – which included informing the Uzaruki Clan of Yukari's mission status.

Having performed the tasks and gathered the necessary travel gear, the Hatake was looking for Yukari when he noted the disturbance across from the Ichiraku ramen. Kakashi was unable to investigate further as he used Pakkun to find Yukari's scent.

XX

"_Why not just attach a tracker chip to the girl, Kakashi-san?" the ninja-pug had asked in mild interest. "That way you'll always know where your girl is."_

"_She isn't my girl, Pakkun, now would you just find her scent so we can get this over with?"_

"_Tch, you are such a moron, Kakashi-senpai." The pug spoke as he followed his orders. "It's plain as day that you want to mate with her. Even that Maito ninja can see it."_

"_Shut up and find her scent!"_

XX

It had taken all but five minutes for Pakkun to point him in the right direction; which was aimed towards the Inuzuka District.

Kakashi smiled under his navy blue mask sat in the shadows, watching how happy his Yukari was when playing with the puppies. Kakashi also noted – he being the ex-ANBU jounin he was – that Sheena, Wydra and Gilligan were also with the Uzaruki heiress.

"As much as I hate to break this up, Yukari-chan, its time to prepare for the mission we've been hired for." Kakashi stepped into the compound, nodding a greeting towards the Inuzuka clan that was watching over the puppies. "It's time to say farewell to your fuzzy friends." The Copy-Cat ninja laughed as the teddy bears were making the puppies even more riled up on happiness.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" Yukari jumped up to her feet and was instantly glomping her now-healed sensei – her actions made Kakashi blush under his mask. "Are you ok now!"

The trio looked up when Kakashi got there and paused; or rather, Sheena froze, Wydra looked over at Sheena to make sure she was okay, and Gilligan kept playing with the puppies. The last time they'd seen him was when they'd first gotten there; when Sheena had injured his ankles. Sheena just sort of let the puppy play with her hand and blinked a few times.

"Yes, yes, I'm alive and in one piece." Kakashi nodded, now his face serious and business like. "Ok, Yukari-chan, the fun-time is over, please…please you can stop hugging me now." The poor jounin was trying his best to avoid looking at the guffawing Inuzuka sister as she smiled slyly at him. "I came here to inform you have been assigned a new mission, which includes me and three others. I've already complied our team; Otou-sensei, Genma-san and Hani Takimoto-san. They all are more experienced in the type of mission we have. You've got less than forty minutes to pack for the traveling mission and to meet back at the Hokage's office."

Kakashi gave an aloof sly smile before vanishing. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy Yukari touching him; it was the fact that they were in public and as such, the Hatake wasn't yet used to the physical contact the girl gave him.

"Oh, darn, I was going to get him to summon Pakkun to show you three." Yukari laughed as she went around, picking up the random teddies from the now-tiring puppies. She didn't know that Kakashi had already used Pakkun to locate her. "Sheena, Wydra, Gilligan, it's time to go."

One teddy bear had gone missing, having attached itself to Kakashi's ankle when nobody was looking and it had gone with him when he'd vanished. Once Yukari collected all the teddy bears; the Gilligan that formed had shorter hair. The rest of his 'hair' was in the teddy that had hitched a ride with the white-haired jounin.

Wydra looked up from her puppy, then knelt and gave it a pat on the head as wheeled up next to Yukari, waiting for the others.

Sheena paused in front of the canine baby in front of her, then knelt and re-positioned herself so that if anybody brought their attention back to them in the next few seconds, the puppy would be blocked from sight. She then reformed the chains along the leg she was kneeling with to be like small stairs, leading to an opening around her torso. Her shirt was torn up from the looks of it, but she leaned over and whispered to the puppy. "Wanna come with me?"

The be-chained girl wasn't quite sure why she was doing this, but she liked the puppy so far. It was nice to her just because it was nice and it seemed to like her. Most things were nice because they were afraid, she looked weird and they didn't want problems, or because of the family that had backed her up most of her life. If the puppy went with her, she would just move the chains around until they were thicker at the back so it would have room to lie down and breathe but still be hidden from sight around her chest.

The puppy – being from the Inuzuka clan – jumped at the prospect of adventure. It jumped right into the pit of doom and began sniffing like crazy at what was inside. Yukari smiled as she led the trio of children back to the Wheel-Nin camp.

Sheena quickly concealed the puppy and walked off with the rest. She'd been through just about any kind of torture most people could think of except one; to which she was quickly becoming familiar as the puppy sniffed around: the sensation of tickling. Her face occasionally twitched and at times she couldn't hold back a giggle. She had never built immunity against being tickled because her father had never done it. What the puppy would smell was blood, dirtiness and sweat.

The puppy – having sniffed every square inch of Sheena's 'belly' – gave a woof. Since Yukari was thoroughly distracted in her thinking, Sheena didn't get that look of accusation that Yukari would have given upon hearing that bark. But the woof went heard only by Sheena's clan - what they would do was up to them.


	21. Scroll 21

_**Scroll 21: Girl Power**_

When Kakashi re-appeared, there would be a figure standing next to him. It was a small child, this one dressed all in black with a hood, looking over at him. When he appeared, the figure would flick its own forehead, and in its place was a similar boy – except for a hood, he wore a normal ninja mask with sunglasses.

"Hello again." The boy would smile grimly.

Kakashi stopped in his tracks and smiled softly. "Hello there, what are you doing?"

The child shrugged. "I guess you don't remember me do you Kakashi…well, it was dark, but that was kind of my fault. Anyway, all day long I'd been trying to get a hold of Kensuke Uzaruki, that red-eyed girl's older brother. The purpose being, I need to talk to him so he can give her a message for me, because she trusts him and I can't talk to her directly because Sheena's always near her and well…Sheena hates me. But she'll listen to you."

This time the belt around his waist that had the darkness symbol was a bit more noticeable. The boy took in a deep breath as though what he was about to say either had great importance or was very awkward.

Kakashi nodded slowly, since he was in the thick of the village; he knew that this Darkness nin-child was not going to be pulling any outrageous stunts. However, the copycat nin was still wary.

"A message for Yukari-san? What would that message be, hhm?" The Hatake ninja kept his lazy, aloof face in place; not wanting to scare or tip off this kid that he was being analyzed. "I'm willing to listen, however, I don't know where Kensuke is. He is ANBU, and ANBU keep on the move."

"Oh, we know where most of them are we just don't know which one her brother is. It's kind of hard to get that close to somebody of your ANBU's skill without them noticing, believe me we've tried." The only thing Kakashi's analyzing might reveal is that the kid had a genjutsu going; constantly. The continuous genjutsu didn't seem to have any negative side effects and was centered mostly on the child himself. "Anyway, this message isn't about her, it's about Sheena the girl she's traveling w- " he looked up for a moment, having heard a small woof.

Jake looked down from his rooftop perch at passing Yukari and the trio of mini-nin. At first, he would just be still; then, few seconds later, he would start shaking before he broke out into laughter. Even after kneeling, his mirth grew to such heights that he would lose his balance and fall off the building, landing in front of Yukari and the other three as he rolled around on the ground laughing his head off.

The only things decipherable between laughs were: 'all girls', 'those poor bastards' and 'all at once?' As he laughed, he waved to Kakashi, indicating the situation was non-threatening and the copycat nin could come down as well. Kakashi, however, chose to remain on high ground, crouching down to watch the scene below unfold.

Yukari, having been snapped out of her train of thought as the boy landed in front of her, hissed and drew out a kunai knife. She hesitated to launch an attack when she located Kakashi-sensei staring down at her from the rooftop.

The puppy could feel Sheena's body get extremely tense, and would whimper in uncertainty as the chains constricted against it for a moment until Sheena remembered it was there. The only reason the chain-clad girl didn't jump and attack the boy on sight was because she was now afraid of endangering the puppy.

Gilligan retained his ever happy face until something the ninja said seemed to set him off, then anybody around could feel a large amount of chakra being built up, although slowly as though he was trying to escape notice. Wydra was confused, but on guard.

"What the piss is going on here?" Yukari would recognize the Darkness nin-band and frowned. "Aren't you the ugly kid I defeated the other day?" Her frown deepened as she looked at the trio of kids. "Kakashi, please explain what is going on here."

Jake would take a deep breath and talk before Kakashi could. "Well, it depends on how comfortable you are talking about extremely awkward situations, and possibly gross according to most people's standards." He would smile sheepishly. His father had given Jake, the boy that was now talking to Yukari and the rest, a very thorough education on the human body.

XXX

Elsewhere, Jack, having been talking to Meiko, would suddenly burst out laughing, kneeling on the ground to stabilize himself so he wouldn't fall over. After a moment he would take a deep breath and say:

"I'm sorry, I normally don't lose control like that but my brother just found out something horrible…"

"Oh? What would that something horrible be?" Meiko would ask; her brow up in confusion. When he didn't answer, the Uzaruki child would just continue to stare onto the dirt wall as the candle made those shadows that always, always entranced her.

XXX

Tsunade nodded to the med-nin and grasped the chart in her hand; as her other hand was being occupied by thumb-nail chewing.

"Abisu Udynou, Yuro Maso and Crystania Hyuuga Jokou are all in good health? This is going to be sticky to handle; since the Hyuuga girl must obviously be kept hidden from her clan, at her request. However, I suggest that Yuro be released to his clan. I know next to nothing about this 'Abisu' boy. What was his story?"

"Abisu? Well, he's not much talked about but he's the younger brother of Ebisu-sensei, Konohamaru's tutor. He was in an accident when he was younger and has been in a coma for a few years now. We've sent a message to Ebisu and he should be here shortly. Also, both Yuro Maso and Crystania Hyuuga Jokou are in good health. In fact, they seem to have not only recovered, but Crystallia has had many of her – deformities…" Curitsu said the word awkwardly. "…fixed. Like somebody could see what was wrong with her and performed the necessary surgery. I want to find out who could do something on that caliber…"

XXX

Crystania Hyuuga would wake up to find herself feeling…improved although extremely sore. Some of her limbs seemed to have been re-adjusted, on the inside if not the outside, to work better. It was like somebody had gone in internally and medically healed her muscular disfigurement that had kept her tied to the hospital. She may not have been completely fixed, now but her body now, was certainly in a condition to start moving outside her med-room.

However, since the abused Hyuuga had escaped from her clan, she felt all but terrified of leaving the medical compound. She instead, sat up and listened to the odd, foreign voices in the room next door. The boy in the bed next to her would turn to speak.

"It feels good to be healthy again. Heck, feels good to just be awake again doesn't it? I'm Abisu."

The brown-haired genin was still in the med-bed, but was now sitting up and talking. The boy, aged-13, had been in a coma three years since he had suffered physical trauma. Abisu's health had been low after a ninja-training accident; and had degraded until his body put itself into a coma to avoid death.

"It does feel great to feel alive." Crystania nodded somberly and smiled. Her unconscious habit of covering her ugly, ugly crystalline eye brought her right hand to cover it. Whatever happened to the rest of her to heal her deformities, it didn't bring back her missing Byakugan ocular. She could care less, though, as she grew attached to the accursed thing. "I'm Crystania Hyuuga Jokou. I'm not really a Hyuuga though; I had my Byakugan sealed since birth. I haven't been trained to use it."

"Do you want my brother to help you learn how to use them? He's noted to be really strong and clever. If not, he could try and get the Hokage to help, he's supposed to be pretty close since he's Konohamaru's sensei." He smiled at her. "I'm not from a major clan, but we are decently skilled." Abisu stopped himself, about to keep talking. "I apologize; I have a tendency to ramble a bit. Why are you doing that?" he asked, nodding his head towards her right hand.

"Oh, my eye isn't there at all, it's just a crystal orb of chakra." Crystania slowly lowered her hand to show Abisu the white-purple tinted orb of crystal. Her face, however, was a pretty as Hinata's and her black hair, of which was tipped in white – complimented the colors of her eyes: both the silvery-white of the Byakugan and the white-purple of the crystal.

"Well, both of your orbs are pretty then." Abisu said, groaning a bit as he sat up. "It's gonna take some getting used to, being mobile again. I just hope I'll be in good enough shape to get out of here soon. What about you, Crystania?"

A familiar, closet-pervert's voice could be heard; growing in volume as it approached the room.

"I don't think I'll be going back home, since my family might want to dissect me further, given that my injuries have healed. The Hyuuga clan is a mess to start with and Hyuuga-sama, the Matriarch, is a mean bitch." Crystania sighed with resignation. "I'll find something to do though." She smiled politely as she took out a roll of bandage gauze and began to wrap it around her crystallized eye. "In the mean time, I'm too embarrassed by this to show it off just now." The short-statured Hyuuga turned her back to Abisu and modestly began wrapping to hide her eye.

Abisu would calmly reach out a hand and place it however far up Crystania's arm he could reach.

"I don't mean to be rude, but you shouldn't be embarrassed. If you can't get used to having it seen, how can other people, ya know?"

He'd smile warmly at the distraught Hyuuga as his older brother, Ebisu-sensei, opened the door to enter the room. The 5-foot 7" man noticed Abisu's hand on Crystania's arm and the smile on his face, then turned around and meant to close the door before the medical kunoichi, Curitsu, spoke up from Ebisu's left side.

"I thought you really wanted to see your brother though." The red-haired med-nin queried.

"He's uhm…busy…" Ebisu responded as his other hand went up to habitually push his dark-shaded glasses up his normal-sized nose.

Crystania blushed fiercely as Ebisu had entered the doorframe, catching what was to be the start of a long, and…intriguing…romance. Her Hyuuga's face slipped into place she had been drilled into her by her betters; the Main Branch family – it was the one she used when the Hyuuga medical ninja had performed their tests on her. Those tests, best left forgotten in her book, were what made her disfigured and weak. She had felt blessed when the Sand-Sound war provided enough distraction for her to slip the chains that held her captive and escape from the horrible Hyuuga medical building.

"Pardon me, Shinobi-san, I didn't mean to interrupt your reunion with your brother." She spoke evenly, letting her arm drop from Abisu's. "I'll just step out for a moment so you two can talk." She hadn't managed to ravel the gauze to hide her eyes before she bowed to Konohamaru's sensei before stepping past Ebisu to vacate the room.

XXX

Sheena, after getting over the shock and anger of immediately seeing her brother, would realize he was laughing.

"Why…what's so funny?" she asked with confusion filling her voice. Jake had NEVER laughed before, not that she remembered. She reached a hand into her chains to pet the puppy, to comfort herself from the situation and to comfort the puppy because she didn't want it to be afraid of where it was. Jake would slow his laughing to a stop as he got to his feet and turned to answer Yukari.

"Oh, me? No, that was my weakling older brother." For a few seconds his voice would sound very slurred and rough, until he put his hands together, concentrated, and kept talking in a normal nine-year-old voice.

"We haven't bothered getting him out yet because he was stupid enough to get caught. Of all the ninja we have here, one of our own gets caught, is pathetic really. Anyway, I've been trying to get a message to you because I have some very important...medical information about my sister there that you'll need to know if you're going to travel with her. Unfortunately I was trying to do this without her knowing but either way, I'll still need to talk you in private." By now Jake had assumed a serious pose, his hands at his sides in a non-threatening gesture as he spoke to Yukari.

"So you wanted to tell me something about Sheena…why?" Yukari allowed her hands to drop in confusion as she stepped in front of the three kids. With a look to Kakashi, she canted her head sideways before spinning it halfway to look at Sheena pet something inside of her. "Uh…oh great. Sheena, what is that? Is that what think it is?"

The chains covering Sheena would move until they covered that part of her body from Yukari's sight.

"What do you think it is?" She blinked, looking up at Yukari with a blank poker-face. Wydra sighed, hoping this wouldn't get blown out of proportion. Gilligan continued to gather up chakra, and from Kakashi's vantage point he could see Gilligan start to slowly do hand signs behind his back, all the while maintaining his gaze on Jake.

"It's a puppy she's hiding in there, though I have no idea why. After everything we've been through I thought she'd given up on most animals. Can we get back to the subject at hand here?" Jake would say with impatience. "Actually, right now would be a bad time. When will you next be alone, or without those three at your side?" He looked down at his wrist, as though checking the time, before looking back up at Yukari.

Yukari would exhaled and nod as Kakashi made himself scarce, going to give this mild report of a meeting between a Darkness Nin and Yukari. Yukari, however, would spin the kunai on her finger as she twisted her body to glance back at Sheena.

"Ok, it would seem that we have a thieving event here, and a puppy was stolen. Sheena you can't do that, for real." Those red eyes crinkle in concern as she quickly pondered her options. Yukari had no time to return the puppy back to the Inuzuka clan, nor had time to explain just how this kid managed to steal an Inuzuka puppy – even if that puppy was bred for being a house-pet. Since her mission's start was less than thirty minutes away, and she still had yet to pack and return the kids to the Wheel-Camp; this dilemma had to be solved quickly, or it could drag to a stand-still.

"Geez, this'll be tight, but I guess I have to do it." The Uzaruki girl tapped into her newly replenished chakra and created a single Kage Bushin. Then, slicing her thumb; summoned a normal-sized carrier hawk and quickly wrote a writ of explanation and an IOU to Hana Inuzuka and sent the hawk to deliver the letter.

"Ok, kiddies, I've got to drop you off in front of Shozaku-chan, otherwise something might decide to happen – Fate knows how to laugh at me." Clone-Yukari motioned Sheena, Wydra and Gilligan to follow her towards the Wheel-Nin Camp. "I'll deliver these kids safe and sound, Yukari-sama, so don't you worry!"

"You saying that to me only makes me MORE worried, baka-clone." The real-Yukari sighed to herself; as her clone led the trio of children away. The red-eyed heiress turned to face Jake as they were alone.

"Ah. Well, since some attention seems to have been attracted to this street and I'm not gonna say anything in front of him." he pointed to the numerous civilians meandering about; hoping to get a glimpse of ninja action. "We can go to a place more private for the moment." Jake finished speaking and began to turn as if to go, his glasses hidden gaze passing over everyone as he turned.

He froze when he stopped on Gilligan though, who had done the final hand sign when their eyes crossed. Both of them were completely frozen: Gilligan in normal pose, Jake with one foot off the ground but his body seemingly locked in place. Wydra and Sheena hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary just yet, and Wydra had a hand on Sheena's shoulder to make her growling self go along with clone-Yukari. Now that the puppy discovered and allowed; Sheena would let it roam all over her, using the chains to let it go where it so pleased.

The puppy, now paid in full, had its tail wagging even more as it was released from the chainy prison of the stomach. Not that it minded, as it was using its young nose to sniff the tantalizing scent of Sheena's be-chained body. Metallic blood and odd odors were scented and categorized.

Clone-Yukari laughed as she paused and watched Gilligan and Jake. This clone was a bit daft in the head and it showed as she laughed. The shadow clone wondered if she would sacrifice herself to keep the peace – after all, she was a Kage Bunshin.

"Hey now, what's the hold up?" clone-Yukari would stare back at herself across the distance she had gained in those long, short seconds as she had begun to lead the trio of kids away from real-Yukari and towards the Wheel-nin camp.

Real-Yukari rolled her eyes and nodded at Jake's statement and pointed to an empty courtyard twelve yards away. With his agreement they left.

XXX

"I apologize for once more breaking it off early Meiko-chan, but it appears that my brother needs me." Meiko would tear her gaze away from the candle-lit dirt way to face the quiet boy.

"Uhm, ok." Was her reply.

With that, Jack would sink into the ground, between the roots and out of sight. He could be seen, seconds later on the other side of Konoha, walking out from around a building, walking up to Jake, and flicking him on the forehead. In turn, in Jake's place was their third brother, Jank, the one with the hood.

"Jack, you know she won't understand how important it was to leave the village in the care of another and bring the trio home." Jake muttered.

"I know. I will defy our father to the last, Jake, to the last. Anyway, Yukari-senpai, since time appears to be off the essence while our brother holds the little deceiver in a Genjutsu. I'll just assume neither of the other two have good hearing."

At this point Jack walked up to Yukari who would be in the empty courtyard and would motion for her to kneel down so he could talk into her ear.

Real-Yukari, being confused by the actions of triplets, kneeled down and looked the kid in the eye.

"What is this now, three of you? How curious. You have my…real…attention…" She smirked as she glanced over to her distant clone, which was caught in the same genjutsu. "This is about Sheena, right? What can be important to tell your enemy something such as medical records? Are you three just looking out for your family?"

"Suffice to say, possessor of the bird demon; that no secret is beyond us. We know the extent to which many of you have suffered, and some of the things our father has done would make your interrogation captain cringe and walk away. I will do what I can to keep my sister in good health, and in good comfort. I will defy that demonic man until the gods themselves come down to kill the two that cannot die. But that is neither here nor there, what I need to tell you is this. My brother Jake is a medical genius. What your genius are known for in power; what your Uchiha and your Hyuuga can do with might, he can do with healing another's body and mind. To such an extent he can even predict, to a degree, certain bodily processes. In a few days, when you start your moon's cycle, so will Sheena, as though you were a trigger. This is because when a member of our family gets attached to something, we get…" he'd emphasize his next word heavily. "…_**attached**_. She's never had a good female role model, so she became quickly attached to you. I guess the women in our family are early bloomers. She's a little older than she looks. And, I should continue to mention, that she has become so attached to her two team-mates that she has extended an influence onto them that none of them are aware of, so when she starts they will too. Now, this might sound gross and largely un-necessary if it weren't for this next bit. We recently discovered a connection – I won't go into detail about our family's past or genetics. When the women in our family…start, they go a bit…crazy, and powerful. For a short amount of time as though boosted by the rites of life. Because of this particular thing, they…" The boy paused for a moment. "I'm sorry, I'm only nine-years old, so I don't think of this often...so to put it bluntly: all three of those girls are going to go boy-crazy; Wydra and Gilligan might be less so. They still will not hesitate to sate their hormonal desires. If you have any further questions, open your eyes while you slumber and we will be summoned…" And just like that, the three of them disappeared.

The real-Yukari blinked in stunned silence; her brain turning the words over and over again. '…three of those girls…', '…three of those girls…', 'sate their hormonal desires.'

"WHAT THE HE–" she screeched and bolted upright in utter confusion. "TEDDY-SAN IS A GIRL!" The red-eyed kunoichi was frozen to the spot for a few seconds before her body allowed itself to calm down.

"I think…I think I'm going to be dizzy now…" she slowly made her way to her apartment, in a daze.

XXX

Kakashi felt a tap on his foot, where a note was left. It had writing on it stating:

'_Good luck dude. I hear one's bad enough…but now you'll have three more._'

The silver-haired jounin looked at the paper in utter confusion. He took a look around to see who might have pinned such a note on his person, yet saw nothing. Kakashi lowered the note and shrugged, walking on to the Hokage's office.


	22. Scroll 22

_**Scroll 22: Into the Unknown**_

Meiko smirked to herself as she lifted her body out of her underneath root hide-away. It had been minutes since Jack had managed to sink into the dirt like water. She finally had the guts to go home now to take the rest of her punishment.

"I'll be watching out for you, Jack, so beware!" Her statement was pointless, meaningless and directionless, as she skipped towards her home.

Midway there, Meiko would spot Barokendo just standing off to the side of her intended traveling path, looking around. When he spotted he walked over, his footsteps pounded towards her, loud and scary as usual. The large man could only recognize the young girl by the feature she shared with her older sister, Yukari – her red eyes.

"Which direction is the Takimoto compound?" The giant's tone indicated he wanted an answer immediately.

"!" Meiko turned to look at the largest man she had even seen in her life; the surprise in her red eyes real enough to cut butter with. "The…Takimoto compound…uh. I think it's a quarter…mile from the Hokage's office – if you face it and turn left, you should walk until you see their colors: lime green and tan." Meiko's face took on a pale complexion as she stared up and up at the giant of a ninja.

"C-co…cool outfit." The girl's pale face slowly changed into one of pure adoration. The black, ragged suit that Barokendo wore was the stuff of angry, gothic legend in Meiko's head. She wanted to look as terrifying and tough as the mass of body that stood before her. The way that the hem of Baro's suit was cut; tattered and ragged, appealed to her dark, gothic fetish. "I love it!" She climaxed her voice to a crescendo; lifting her arms in cheer. "Your outfit is perfect!"

He would nod and start walking away, stopping when she started to fan-girl gush.

"This? I wear it so people can't see the spikes that have been shoved through most of my body. The suit is just cloth, everything else comes from us." He said, indicating the spikes poking out of the suit in various places. When he said 'us'; the shadows in the area got a lot less malicious, as though something left them. He continued on his way, hoping he would make it to the Takimoto compound to collect the promise Hani had given him earlier.

Meiko, having her fists clenched closely to her face – a face that shone with admiration for the large man – nodded like an idiot as Barokendo stomped his way away.

"Kay! Bai! Take care and have fun where-ever you are going!" Meiko added dumbly. She watched until he was out of sight with a turn of the corner; and then moved her body in accordance with the subconscious towards her home. If Hibachi-dono – her father- verbally beat her for shirking her punishment, she wouldn't care. Her head was in gothic fantasies of black, torn outfits and angry, scary ninja.

XXX

Ebisu nodded towards the young Hyuuga girl and gave her a smile.

"If you are set on that then I will continue, but our reuniting will happen no matter what. I would not deny him the chance to...thank you, Hyuuga-san."

Ebisu hadn't met her before; he'd just gotten a basic report of who else had miraculously recovered in the same room as his brother. He opened the door fully and continued in after Crystania gave up the room; kneeling enough to be on eye level with Abisu as they spoke. There wasn't anything too significant in their exchange, just questions of how the family was, how well Konohamaru was coming along, and a few others things.

"They tell me that you will be able to come home soon, possibly tonight or tomorrow. I will make sure everybody is waiting for your return, it will be a most joyous celebration, Abisu-nee-san." Ebisu then leaned in and whispered something into Abisu's ear, before getting up and making his way out. All in all, the exchange hadn't taken too long given that Ebisu had to continue to answer his call of shinobi duty.

Crystania gave Ebisu a passing look as she had re-entered the room. She then flopped down on her bed, dragging out a worn, pastel colored dragon plushie that looked old enough to – in all honesty – explode into a mass of cloth and stuffing. Time had been unkind to the plushie and it showed.

"So that was your brother, huh? He doesn't look unique; he looks like an administrative nin. Plain and boring." She sighed; not knowing enough about the social situation to be aware that her statement could be taken as an insult. "He does have those glasses and head wrap, though, so I guess he's different."

"Haha, our clan has gotten those comments on occasion. But not all ninja can be as unique as the major clans. My brother told me that some must simply fulfill their duty to the best of their ability, even if they were not born special. Besides, if everybody was special then the normal people would stand out. My older brother is Konohamaru Sarutobi's private tutor so I think that makes him a little different." He had heard these kinds of things on many occasions, having learned to be a bit more easy-going and not take them to heart long ago. "What of your own family? Will any be coming now that you are better again?"

"NO!" Crystania sat up violently and fisted her hands. "I mean, I hope not! They don't care about me. I'm glad!" Her left white eye shimmered with raw, negative emotion. They're the ones that made me a freak; even among the branch family: one eye with a sealed bird curse and a useless other. I couldn't face even the lowest of branch members like this." She fumed on. "I will stay here, and be hidden."

Abisu smiled, reached out, and gave her a pat on the shoulder. "I am sorry to bring up old wounds, but there is no need to be angry. None of the other Hyuugas are here. My brother did inform me of your situation, saying to tell you that you can stay with us if the hospital is too confining now that you can go other places. My family may not have genius ninja, but we are exceptionally kind people…most of the time." he laughed, remembering a few of the incidents where he'd angered his brother.

Crystania blushed this time, when Abisu placed his hand on her shoulder and showed his kindness. "Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you, Abisu-kun. I just don't like my clan at all." She paused; pondering something in that white-tipped black-haired head of hers. "I would love to see where your clan district is. If it's not too much to ask – I really don't have a home if I get kicked out of this building."

The newly reformed Hyuuga body flexed its arms as Crystania gazed down at her fingers – fingers that could be deadly, lethal killers or blessed, miracle healers. "It would be great to go outside again."

"That it would, Crysta-chan, that it would." Abisu nodded in agreement.

XXX

Meanwhile, three rooms down from where Crystania, Ebisu and his young brother were occupying, was a single bed unit. Lying in that bed unit was a platinum blonde figure that was lithe, young, male and awake. If one would look at a glance, it could be said that the younger surviving Uchiha had gone and dyed his hair blonde. However, this boy wasn't Sasuke Uchiha; nor was his clan in any danger of being killed off.

Yuro Maso had physical mannerisms and hair-style similar to Sasuke Uchiha; only the blonde boy was more prone to happy emotions facially – or was prone. Since he had just recovered from his coma and into a world of confusion, Yuro's mouth was set in a frown. Not only was there a strange, busty, glorious vision of a woman staring down at him, he was in a medical bed. To further his confusion, his body – a body of an exercised genin ninja of fair value – was weak and low on muscle tone; looking like he had starved himself to mere skin and bones. For all that Yuro thought; he just couldn't come up with a reason of how his body could have come to this weakened state.

To add more to his troubled mind, the blue-eyed genin male was unable to visually see the other 2/3rds of his ninja team: Yukari Uzaruki and Sudokari Murosaki. With those two without of sight, Yuro struggled to make heads or tails of his situation.

XXX

The trio of kids along with clone-Yukari, would slowly make their way to the wheel camp, Gilligan staring back at Jack as he disappeared, leaving the real Yukari to stumble off like she had been hit in the head. Gilligan wasn't quite sure what Jack had told the kunoichi, but Gilligan didn't like the way real-Yukari reacted. She turned back towards the rest, smiling like always, happy to be wherever they were. Looking at their face, her worries seemed to just wash away, and the voice in the back of her head was easier to ignore.

Next to her, Sheena would be act a little irritated and worried about her brothers' – all three of them – sudden appearance. She suddenly wanted to find her older brother, Barokendo, and hoped he was back at camp.

XXX

"Hey Skimi-san...ever get the feeling that things are about to go HORRIBLY wrong?" Shozaku looked up from his bowl of ramen and at the large, cooking friend of his. It was seconds after Shozaku's comment on his bizarre, spine-tingling feeling that clone-Yukari bounced up into the Wheel-Nin camp; trailing the now oddly-acting kids behind her.

"HIYAS! Shozaku-chan!" clone-Yukari would make that fan-girl impression with her body language and smile. "Whatcha eating!" If Yukari had been blonde, this is how she would have acted; ditzy, loud and bubbly. "HUGGLES! It's great to have time to embarrass myself when I'm a kage bunshin!"

Indeed, the clone would make a small leap and plaster herself onto the gambling, eating ninja; hugging his neck. "I brought back the kiddies!"

"Oh h-HELLO THERE." The gambler choked out, coughing up the ramen in his mouth as he got tackled by clone-Yukari. "Hmmmm…it…might be worth I-" Shozaku didn't finish the sentence. As the gambler's hand had made it halfway up clone-Yukari's shirt, Skiminachi reached over and placed a giant hand on his friend's face, making Shozaku stop his groping of Clone-Yukari.

"Thank you for returning our precious little ones safe and sound. Assuming your business here is done, I suggest you dispel before Shozaku takes this horrible chance and does something Yukari would regret." The cook used his other hand to wave the little trio back into the rest of the camp, where they just found a table and sat down at for now.

There the trio stood, locked into a will of who would give way first; Shozaku, clone-Yukari or the Cook.

XXX

Meanwhile, the real Yukari would have made her way to her pad, still in a daze as she replayed events that dated back from the moment the tiny teddy-bear had bitten Kakashi's thumb until just mere minutes ago - all in her befuddled head. Nothing that she could pick out betrayed the fact that, yes, all of them were girls. First; Yukari had thought both Sheena and Gilligan were male; as she was used to the Rookie Nine teams being boy, boy and girl. Then, it was startling to see that, beneath the chains, Sheena was indeed a girl. Now it exultantly screwed with her head to discover that all three of them were girls. In addition, if the information that the Darkness boy-trio had given her, the three children were going to break hell loose if Yukari's hunch of her mission being escort was on the mark.

"Meko, it's going to be a long, long mission." The red-eyed girl sighed with a smile as she hoisted the travel-pack onto her shoulder and tied – dramatically – her Konoha-leaf depicting nin headband on her head. "Take care of the fort while I'm gone, and such. You stupid cat."

Meko, still not revealing that he was a nin animal, merely looked up from his tightly curled position – one that had all feet and tail tucked underneath him as he laid on his stomach. With a fanged yawn, the black and white cat closed his yellow eyes and lowered his head to bask in the sunbeam that had positioned itself nicely through the window.


	23. Scroll 23

_**Scroll 23: Will of Fire**_

Kakashi had done his best to inform the three ninjas – his best friend and senbon-biting Genma Shuinei, the tri-eyed ANBU agent Otou and the medically trained Hani Takimoto – that would be accompanying him and Yukari on the mission that the Hokage had relayed to him twenty minutes before. The silver, messy-haired ex-ANBU member stopped as his uncovered eye viewed the section of stone high above, that was currently being excavated and prepped for carving. Since Tsunade had become the fifth Hokage, it was only logical that her profile would be added to the other four reliefs that had taken up residence on the medium-sized rocky mountain that resided in the middle of his village; Konohagakure.

The project was an event that drew curious civilians and shinobi alike. It was, Kakashi surmised, amazing to see the feminine face slowly take shape. Tsunade's face would look excellent up there with the four other masculine faces of leaders past. On a tangent thought, Kakashi realized that his absent student's face – one going by the name Naruto Uzumaki – would be up there one day as well; as Naruto's life-long dream of becoming Hokage would inevitably come to pass. That dream – Naruto's noble goal – Kakashi had come to accept as a fact of life, would not fade away into nothingness; as so many other dreams were sadly destined to do. He finally acknowledged Naruto's ability to fulfill that dream – it would be a long, straining journey to reach it - but the Sharingan user believed his student's Will of Fire would accomplish that dream.

But for now, Kakashi; had been temporarily stripped of his genin team by time's ever-moving surge forward – Sakura Haruno had been chosen by the Hokage Tsunade to be trained as the next genius medical nin; Naruto Uzumaki had been taken by another one of the legendary sannin, Jiraiya, to start his training; and Sasuke Uchiha had become a missing nin when he too, had fallen in with the last third of the Sannin team: Orochimaru, to gain power enough to fulfill his dream of killing his murderous brother and restore his clan's honor.

The Hatake ninja shook his head as he realized he still had other students to teach – namely the red-eyed heiress of the Uzaruki clan, Yukari. The girl, remarkably similar in personality to Naruto, was keeping him on his toes. The crimson-colored hue of her kekkai genkai – the Akashingan/red death eyes – was remarkably unique to herself and her clan. The girl, having been through the loss of her team, was somebody that Kakashi could relate to on multiple levels.

He, too, had lost his team in combat when his was her age; the tender age of 14. The fact that her sensei, a scum-bucket hailing from the Akanchi clan, had betrayed her to Konoha's enemies was something that hadn't happened to Kakashi. It was this reason, her previous sensei's betrayal, that the Hokage had deemed it wise enough to give Kakashi Yukari Uzaruki to train while his other two remaining students were occupied.

A smile graced Kakashi's masked lips as he thought back on his time spent with the strong-willed, justice-centered and amazing kunoichi. If not for her opposing physical features – black-raven hair, red-eyes, and feminine physique vs. blonde hair, blue-eyes and masculine build – he might as well be training a female Naruto. The truth of that thought, Kakashi mused, wasn't at all accurate. Yukari was worlds different from her male rival, friend and motivation: Naruto. The two ninjas were worldly unique; different from each other in so many ways that one couldn't count the differences.

Yukari had pains in her heart that Naruto did not, and Naruto had pains in his that the girl did not. Not that Kakashi cared for comparing dark stains of emotional trauma of the two shinobi, but he was – deep in his heart – thoroughly glad to befriend both of them; and glad that they both had befriended each other.

If anything, the Sharingan user had grown closer and closer to the red-eyed kunoichi over the past months, becoming accustomed to the surprises she offered when he sparred with her. He and another ANBU member, one going by the name Otou, had combined their efforts to train Yukari in becoming an independent chuunin – something that couldn't have happened on its own given the fact that her previous sensei hadn't given a rat's tail about her. Indeed, Kakashi had given in to the sensual thrills she gave him when she exerted her chakra. It was interesting to learn about his new student; given that they had even fought together before.

It was during the Sand-Sound war that it had happened – back when he was obsessed with training Sasuke to find his potential with the Sharingan. When Kakashi was off in who knew what location, training the Uchiha heir, fate had decided to set events up that would inevitably lead to the Uzaruki girl and he confronting the traitorous Kabuto. Kabuto had been a spy for Orochimaru; and assisted the snake-sannin in converting Sasuke over to their side.

But in Kabuto's spare time – here Kakashi grimaced in primal hate – he had stalked the red-eyed Akashingan user and had abused and molested her for his sick, demented urges. The kid, half as young as Kakashi himself, was a medical ninja on par or even beyond the skills of Tsunade – the woman who was hailed as a medical pariah. The silver-haired ninja, posing as an ally under a mask, had infiltrated the chuunin exams and gained Yukari's trust before degrading her in the second, worst possible way; pinning her with a curse mark.

Kakashi had managed to pull off a rescue of precise timing, as he faced off against Kabuto in the midst of battle. Yukari had already been in position, lying at Kabuto's feet, when Kakashi attacked. She had enough wits to help Kakashi drive off the traitor. However, he later found out that Kabuto had used his time well, having apprehended the kunoichi well before Orochimaru launched his attack on the third Hokage. The events that Yukari had reported – having been interrogated separately – were grim. Kabuto had rendered her unable to move before he used his medical knowledge to screw around with her body and afflict her with his own style of curse mark. He had focused on her red-inked tattoo that depicted her clan's symbol and altered it into a curse mark.

That curse mark – which was located just under and between her shoulder blades – was the now the kanji for demon bird. Unlike the curse mark that Orochimaru had inflicted upon Sasuke Uchiha, Kabuto's curse mark was less vile and controlling. However, that didn't stop the harm that continued to plague his Yukari. Yes, his Yukari. The more Kakashi thought about it, the more he liked that idea – Yukari was his and he was hers. One of the reasons why he was still keeping his feelings for her known; was that same, damned curse mark – one that affected her chakra gates and was triggered by heightened hormones.

"KAKASHI-SENSEI!" A feminine voice interrupted Kakashi's trip into the memory banks. He snapped out of his reverie and turned around. Yukari stood there smiling at him and his reaction – only visible reaction at least – was a smile back.

"What are you doing there, standing like a stick!" the red-eyed kunoichi canted her raven-haired head to the side in question.

"Ohh, nothing, I was thinking, that's all." He answered, as his eye closed in mirth.

"Does it hurt?" Yukari's question made him open his uncovered eye again.

"What?"

"Does it hurt; the thinking?" The girl before him had to bite back a broad smile as she repeated the question.

"Very funny, Yukari-chan, very funny." Kakashi would glower through his mask.

"I thought so." She subtracted the distance between them and stood next to Kakashi, as he turned back towards the Hokage building.

"I've packed a nin-travel pack and finished tying up ends that couldn't wait for the time amount for this mission, Kakashi-sensei!"

"Great." Kakashi muttered; trying to distract himself from the perverted thoughts that ran through his head when she mentioned 'typing up ends.'

"Although, my kage bunshin hasn't dispelled yet - I wonder what could be taking her so long to deliver those kids to the Wheel Nin." Yukari changed her gaze up to the stone faces of the Hokages, giving Kakashi peace of mind that her red eyes weren't on him.

XXX

The said clone-Yukari was currently pouting sadly at the giant cook as his hand was on Shozaku's face.

"Awh, you are such a prude, Cook-nin-san. Shozaku and I just want to have a little fun before I die." Those pretty red eyes came back from watching the trio of kids – the Kage Bunshin did not yet know that all three of them were girls – and arrowed on the jolly giant. "It won't hurt anything to make-out a little, will it?"

To emphasize her point, clone-Yukari giggled and ran a trail of kisses down the side of Shozaku's shaved head. Shozaku laughed, and then his eyes flickered on like a flashlight, and a small cone of light emitted from behind those darkened glasses – however, he didn't face the Yukari-bunshin yet.

"Ah, it could be so much fun, and no it wouldn't hurt me. But I'm not all too willing to risk you doing this here: in front of little kids with their bad past and when you're not quite the real thing. Goodbye." And with that he turned his head, and as the light from his eyes passed across the bunshin, clone-Yukari would be dispelled. The jutsu was one of the many tricks of Shozaku's all-seeing eyes.

XXX

Suddenly, Yukari gave a nerve-rendering screech that sent Kakashi flying to the side in utter shock.

"THAT…THAT…THOSE-THOSE TWO ARE SO DEAD!" The Uzaruki girl's face was enraged; her brain collecting the memories of her now-dispelled Kage Bunshin.

It was an experiment that Kakashi had decided to try on her – namely the abilities of the Kage Bunshin – to further refine his training ideas for Naruto once the blonde-boy returned. The hypothesis was; that if the user sent a Kage Bunshin to do something in a place that was out of view of the user, then dispelled itself; the experiences of the Kage Bunshin would be relayed back to the user.

Kakashi barely had time to recall what Yukari had said moments before – something about her Kage Bunshin escorting the trio of odd kids back to the Wheel Nin. Judging on her reaction, the Sharingan user assumed that Yukari's kage bunshin must have done something idiotic to set the kunoichi off. But who was the other person she spoke of? It often took two people to enact an event. Kakashi dreaded to think how that person might be in big trouble if Yukari decided to pull revenge.

But it wasn't the time for revenge as Shizune appeared in a rush as she exited the Hokage building with a pile of folders in her arms. She stopped and looked at the shinobi in front of her.

"Oh! Kakashi-san and Yukari-san, are you here for the mission that the Hokage was going to give you?" the black-haired assistant struggled to keep the medical files in her arms.

"Yes, that we are, Shizune-san." Kakashi politely allowed himself to help Shizune with her burden. "It would seem that we are headed for the same person, Shizune-san, allow me to help you carry those." The jounin would smile nicely as the flustered aide reluctantly allowed him to do so.

"Ok, I guess, but Tsunade-sama wants to read these ASAP. So let's hurry!" the aide smiled – her burden lessened – and hurried to the medical buildings.

Yukari, being pulled out of her reverie of rage, blinked as Kakashi nudged her and nodded in the direction of the departing Shizune.

"Let's go, Yukari-chan, you can focus on your raging revenge later." Kakashi swung and took a wild guess at the reason of her emotions – and his guess was partially correct. The kunoichi was pissed at her now dispelled Kage for hitting on Shozaku and at Shozaku for not giving it back twice-fold.

"R-right." Yukari shook her head and followed her sensei.

If Kakashi had been looking for it, he might have seen that Shizune's shadow was rather…misaligned, as though a few of the features weren't as they should be.

XXX

Shozaku sat up and his eyes flickered back to normal.

"Well that sucked. I would've taken her up on it but then it might've strained relations with the real Yukari, not exactly the best thing when you're about to go on a long trip with somebody." It turns out the bald gambler did have some morals, though they were well-hidden and rarely used. "Anyway, I'm gonna go make the rounds and make sure everybody's ready to go soon, if not immediately."

With that the nervous gambler got up and left; so if Yukari had come looking for him, the only person she'd see at camp was Skiminachi.

Nearby, the puppy that had been paid with by Yukari's personal funds; was extremely busy bouncing from one kid to the next to the next. Sheena, Wydra and Gilligan all were ringed around the black and white puppy, watching and urging it to play more.

As the puppy wasn't human and had a better sense for this sort of thing, it might feel Sheena's chakra being slowly instilled in itself, as though she wasn't doing it on purpose. Sheena had gotten attached to the puppy quite quickly. If any one nearby knew how Sheena's synchronous chakra was latching onto the puppy, they could have prevented the puppy's fate – only if it was recognized it as something bad. Otherwise, it would just be another symbiotic exchange of chakra between Sheena and the puppy. At points in the past, this same exchange had happened to both Wydra and Gilligan; forming as a result of their time together.

However, this bond-forming reaction seemed to have no harmful effect, as Gilligan was currently in the form of a teddy bear about the size of the puppy, wrestling with it on the ground playfully to Sheena's amusement. Wydra, too, was laughing at Gilligan's antics.

XXX

The three brothers stood in a triangle around a large and intricate symbol on the ground. They were somewhere near Konoha, but not inside it, and there wasn't anything else in the symbol. It looked as though they'd just gotten done with something. Jack and Jake turned to Jank, the hooded one.

"So she's safely locked in your head now, right Jank?" Jack asked. The silent hooded brother nodded; then raised his hands up in a questioning gesture.

"Well, right now we don't have any plans in specific. Get one of out spies in Konoha to start gathering the intelligence and information we need to perform the Return-Home jutsu. That should take a day or so, until then…I guess we should act like the children we are. Good work. Jank, you know where there library is. And Jake…you know that Hokage woman is in the hospital, are you really sure you want to go back just yet?"

Jake just laughed. "I'll never get caught by some Pentagenarian. I'll just need to borrow another of our spies from the village so it's not just a bunshin or a transformation jutsu. So don't worry, brothers."

After that, the three boys went their separate ways.

XXX

Minutes later, Jake was controlling a ninja that was currently in the hospital. The ninja didn't stand out much; he had the Konoha headband on, and was wearing a medical-nin outfit. The only oddity was that he'd been going around following up on the people he'd healed. He was just waiting until there was nobody else in the room, then he would go in and talk to the person while he got their muscles back to normal, and any other small problems he didn't have the time to take care of before when Curitsu had arrived.

He was standing outside Yuro's room, waiting for the Hokage to leave; listening to the boy inside talk.

"Who the wack are you, lady?" Yuro would open his mouth to talk to the twin-pony-tailed blonde of a woman – the Hokage. Tsunade was currently scanning over his chart when he addressed her.

When the Hokage didn't answer Yuro's frown increased in depth as the lady – absent-mindedly – left his room without answering him. His blue eyes did spot the nin that was standing outside his medical door and caused him to be confused more; seeing it wasn't his sensei, Akanchi Jamaru.

"Oy, who are you?" Yuro called out to the watching Jake.

Jake laughed, and having been noticed decided it would be better to just go along with the situation rather than walk away and arouse suspicion. He walked into Yuro's room, talking as he did so.

"Just a concerned medic coming to check up on you. How do you feel?" Using a med-nin as an undercover pawn Jake had walked up to Yuro's side by this point. He decided to start with a few questions, hoping something would attract the Hokage's attention soon or he would have to come up with something himself. It bothered him when he couldn't finish healing what he'd started.

"I have no clue as to why I'm here or even why my body is so weak." Yuro looked up at the controlled med-nin. "Last thing I can remember is some punk-ass ninjas attacking my team and we had to fight back." The blonde boy scowled. "Now my body is so weak, like I've been laid up for a month or something."

"Ah, well, if it were only a month you would be good to go, but you have been out for…well, sometime longer than that. Hopefully we will be able to get you out of here soon though. As to how you got here, I don't have the details myself, perhaps Curitsu or Tsunade-sama?" He turned towards them, wondering if they might be able to fill in the blanks. Conversation seemed the best way to go for now, letting the others fill in information he didn't have all the details on so he didn't mess up and give a clue that he wasn't a leaf-nin. Given that she led the village, he was going with the belief that something, or someone, would soon get her attention or she would go elsewhere.

XXX

Just as Yukari had locked and shut her door, a large, ominous eye would open itself on the wall beside Meko and a voice would be heard.

"I'm going to be blunt. What are the capabilities of the Uzaruki woman's ocular kekkai genkai?"

"Meow, to you too, Eye-ball-san." Meko opened his yellow eyes and gazed back at the orb. "Yukari's wondrous kekkai genkai is the Akashingan, and it allows the user to attach their own optical senses to that of any birds'. It has two stages; and only her brother and father have reached the second stage. The ability of the second stage is, however, unknown to me." The cat mercilessly betrayed his mistress's heritagal-trust to an eyeball.

"Thank you for cooperating, cat-san." And with that the eye would just shut and fade away. Soon after that, Kensuke would feel himself being watched, as though the presence made no effort to hide that though it did hide its location.

XXX

Barokendo would approach the Takimoto compound, going around and following the directions he'd been given. He had assumed she'd be here since she hadn't stated she had other business later, and it would be a little irritating if he'd come this way for no reason when he could be training. If he wasn't busy, he trained. Barokendo sleeping was like a shooting star, you hardly ever saw it.

Hani Takimoto, having been asked by Kakashi Hatake to accompany them for a mission, had returned immediately to her clan home to pack. She was, however, extremely hesitant to leave her house; as a promise was made earlier. She was there waiting when Barokendo stomped right up to the gate; making her grey-green eyes widen in pleasant surprise.

"Hai! Konichiwa, Barokendo-sama." The female med-nin would smile brightly and open the gate to admit entrance. "I am so glad you came just now, as later would have been a bad time. I was just asked to report for an assignment minutes ago. I chose to be late, however, since I did promise you a drink!"

The woman said only what was deemed necessary and promptly shut up after.

Barokendo nodded. "I haven't been invited to an outing in quite a few years so I've forgotten what all there is for it. What would you suggest?" He stepped forward through the gate.

He tried not to laugh; gates always came across as funny to him. Or rather, anything that stood as though it would bar him from whatever he wanted was funny to him.

"If your other duties are more pressing, I understand how important these things can be." he said as he looked around at the compound. So this is what a normally family's home looked like when it wasn't being attacked.

He turned his head back down, looking straight into Hani's grey-green eyes unless she was looking away herself. This was a potentially awkward habit of his – maintaining eye contact unless otherwise necessary.

"Oh, no, nothing too terribly important, please the bar is this way."

Hani smiled again and led the giant of a man towards the elegant, yet modestly built clan house. She led the way as she made her way around the perimeter of the building and showed him to the open bar area that she had spoke of earlier that day.

Barokendo smiled as she poured him a drink in a large glass and offered it to him; before pouring her own. Then, as they sat in appropriate futons, they enjoyed their sake and such.

XXX

"Well, I do not think those here would ever want to kick you out, but now that you are able to go somewhere else you might find yourself unwilling to stay for too long." Abisu had been working his own muscles left and right; trying to see what was in the worst condition, as he noticed Crystania looking down at her own hands. After giving her another pat on the back, he would bring his hand back and swing his legs over the side of the bed, sitting up completely and looking around. "So what's the first thing you are going to do when we are released, Crystania?"

"The first thing I'm going to do is learn how to use my Byakugan and then, learn to use genjutsu!" Crystania smiled as Abisu and nodded. "But I would have to ask you to teach me, since I haven't even gone to the academy." She would sound embarrassed by the fact that she couldn't even harness her chakra yet. "I've never been taught properly, and the things I did learn, I don't trust. I was used as test subject by my superiors, so I wasn't treated like a human."

"Ah, that is rather unfortunate. I am going to continue my training also, but I think I would like to get some ice cream on the way home. Well, if you are a good learner and hard worker I think I can persuade my brother to help. He only has trouble with Konohamaru because the boy is often lazy, or would rather do other things. I had just graduated the academy before my accident, maybe we can train together, eh?" He smiled. "And…I am sorry about your life before, I wish there was something to be done to make up for all the bad things that have happened."

"That's ok, Abisu-san, it's not your fault that the Hyuugas as so full of shit." Crystania wasn't current on the news, nor was she all that knowledgeable of Hinata's personality. "Let's just enjoy today and see if we can get released from this white room."


	24. Scroll 24

_**Scroll 24: Team Usagi**_

Returning to Konohagakure after their month-long mission was a novice team of three ninjas and their cell leader: Okamizu-sensei. Drake Inikaze, Yusuki Kabamaru and Usagi Uzaruki plodded along aside each other as their leader, Okamizu, led them back to home base. Their sensei; black of hair and boring, plain of face wasn't much to look at. Not much at all until you saw his eyes; vivid blue in color, were almost striking enough to signify an ocular kekkai genkai. But it wasn't the case with Okamizu; his normal eye color; faded green, was hidden behind colored contacts – at least, his normal eyes were. The trait that signified his bloodline limit was hidden snuggly underneath his forehead band: his third, purple eye. Being imbedded at the top of the nose's bridge, the eye was smaller than a normal, human eye, and shaped more like a cat's-eye slit on its side.

Okamizu's kekkai genkai – the name being classified or unimportant enough to chronically forget its name – allowed him to view things as if looking through a scope: zooming in on items, people or places over great distances. (The longest recorded distance could easily be remembered as a whopping 60 miles, of which his brother, Otou held the title.) The only down side to this kekkai genkai, making it much less valuable than the illustrious Byakugan, was that the eye had to had a clear line of view in order to work. The view couldn't be blocked by trees or houses if the eye was to work.

"Sensei-Wolf, this is the third frigging mission that Usagi-san has gotten more pay than us!" Drake Inikaze whined as the he hoisted the pack onto his shoulder as it slipped for the umpteenth time.

Drake was born into a clan that had only been in Konoha for two generations. He was as general as they came; only because Drake was the only one in his clan that didn't have the mirror-eyes kekkai genkai.

The Mind Fortress – Kokoro Toride as his mother had called it – was a bloodline that originated from a small mountain village far to the west, in the Wind country. Drake's clan-members all possessed the same grey eyes. How the ocular talent worked was when the condition was right, the grey iris expanded, enveloping the pupil and the grey color changes to a highly reflective, mirror like-shine. The bloodline was a passive doujutsu, thus, Drake's family was unable control it at will, but it was a great automatic defense mechanism. Those eyes protected their user from almost all types of Genjutsu; with the exception of extremely powerful genjutsu – but it would take a village-sized amount of chakra to cast such a genjutsu that could push past the Mind Fortress.

But that was his family and not him. The 16-year old, green-eyes and brown-hair ranked in as a slightly above average taijutsu and ninjutsu user – which was why he got honors to carry his team-mate's baggage.

"Would you just shut the piss up, Drake, it's not like YOU offered to contact the target and take it in the butt." Yusuki hissed back. Drake's other male teammate was an asshole, and it showed. "Besides, Usagi-chan is hot enough to tag the target even if it wasn't required for the mission, if she hadn't the need to genjutsu her eyes."

Yusuki Kabamaru was as radical in looks as Drake was plain. His natural black hair was dyed in purples, whites and blues. The tips of his bangs – bangs that stopped mid-way through his yellow-blue mixed eyes – were tipped in white as random strands of purple and blue popped out all over his head; making his spiky hair look riotous. The 16-year old boy stood an exact five-foot, but he was still growing. Drake gave Yusuki the finger as his own faded green eyes tore away from the netting and black scarf-wearing ninja.

"Fuck you, man. You know I'm straight as sunbeams." Drake snarled at his thrice face-pierced comrade. "Besides, I didn't hear you offer either, princess."

"Would you two shut the fuck up!" The previously mentioned red-eyed female shoved both Drake and Yusuki – and since she was in the middle; Drake was shoved left as she used her left arm, and Yusuki was shoved right, tasting the strength of her right limb. "I'm the kunoichi here, and kunoichis have a whole different set of skills required of them than shinobi. Besides, the dude was hawt, I didn't mind getting banged before I killed 'em. It's a shame, though, to waste such a large di-"

"USAGI-SAN!" Okamizu shouted to interrupt her. "You're not to talk like that around your teammates."

"YOU HAVE GOT TO BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!" Usagi screeched at her sensei.

The girl, standing an inch short of Yusuki's five feet, ran up to match her sensei's steps. Her reversed spiky hair bristled against the nape of her neck, tickling the pale skin. The two ponytails, being tied back at under her ears, bounced as she took those forced, catch-up steps. The ninja suit she wore; black and red in color, revealed her budding cleavage – one that was still covered with netting. She had a black one-piece suit; one that went into a split-style flaps. The grey-rimmed black front and back flaps covered her neither regions and went down to just below her knees. Her legs were covered in netting; like her arms, which rested forearm cloth bracers. Resting on her upper right thigh was her kunai and senbon pack; cushioned by white nylon wrap.

The most remarkable feature of her, however, was her blood-red eyes; the kind of red seen on exquisite roses that some ninjas used as tools. Only her right eye was this vivid ruby red, as her left – due to impure breeding and genetic quirks – was more of a faded cerise. Both eyes however, were capable of using the doujutsu of her clan: the Akashingan.

"No, I am NOT 'bleeping' kidding you, Usagi-san." Okamizu scowled at the 16-year old in front of him. "If you are to become a courtesan, then you have to learn how to speak like one."

"Don't you mean 'slut', Wolf-sensei?" Drake interjected with a snort.

"You're the bitch, Drake. I've got you whipped." Usagi glared back at her comrade. Her comment sent Yusuki into a body-wracking fit of laughter.

"Fuck you, Yusuki-baka."

"Man, Drake, did you hear Usagi-chan! She's got you whipped!" the black-haired genin clapped a hand on his friend's blue-shirt covered shoulder. "Usagi-chan, that's our whore!"

"I beg to differ, Yusuki, I'm nobody's whore." Usagi snapped back.

By this time, the four-cell team was well within the village. The nearby civilians were looking at his team in distain. Their squabbling was being overheard. The tri-eyed sensei lifted a gloved hand to his face and proceeded to give himself a face-palm.

"You three are hopeless, you know that, right?" Okamizu exhaled in annoyance. "Just WHY Sarutobi-Hokage stuck me with you three, is beyond me." His speech went unheard as his genins continued to bicker.

"Nobody's whore, but Itachi's and Neji's you mean." Drake needled Usagi again.

"Drake, fuck you, next time I'll tell the mission-giver to let YOU be the contact." Usagi snarled and turned up her nose at the green-eyed teen. "Besides, that Uchiha dick ditched the dating scene years ago, so it's not my fault. Raikanami scared him insane. Neji…Neji's just a prick. Somebody needs to yank the stick out of his ass."

"How do you know the Hyuuga has a stick up his ass?" Drake spoke up again. "Have you seen it?"

"Man, Drake, shut the piss up already." Yusuki hissed as he draped an arm over his friend. "We all know that that brat orange kid kicked Neji's ass at the chuunin exams earlier this year."

"Whatever kids, I'm going to report the mission as a success to the office. I'll meet you later at our team 3 training grounds." Okamizu finally had enough of his team's bickering. "Don't be late!"

"Ok, Ja Ne!" Yusuki waved half-heartedly at his sensei as she glared at Drake. "Race you two there, losers!"

"I'll always win!" Usagi crowed as she vanished, and Yusuki followed soon after.

"Damn it, I hate it when they do that. I'll see you later, sensei." Drake, the civilized one of the team, bowed to his tri-eyed sensei before following his two, quicker teammates.

"Hehehe, thank you Drake, I knew I can always count on you to be the polite one." Okamizu muttered to himself as he watched the three teens take off on the rooftops.

XXX

Usagi, like she had announced, made it to the training grounds first, and gave Yusuki a head-rub burn for being second.

"DAMN, Usagi-san! That's soo hawt!" Yusuki laughed within Usagi's headlock as Drake entered the scene. "Dude, wanna join us for a threesome!" the blue and purple spikes on his head quivered with mirth as Drake flicked his friend off and blanched.

Usagi, however, shoved Yusuki onto the ground as she, adding insult to injury, shoved his butt with her black-sandaled foot.

"Pervert Yusuki!" she scowled as her attention was torn away from the pervert Yusuki to what had rolled out of the bushes: a black and white puppy that was currently wrestling with the same-sized teddy bear.

Gilligan was having the time of her life, and was currently pretending to let the puppy win by trying to crawl away. She'd started crawling in the general direction of Usagi and the rest when she looked up, noticed what they were doing, and promptly transformed back into her normal shape and size of a very convincing boy. Wydra wheeled down a tree a few seconds later, calling out as she did so.

"Sheena! Reena and Gilligan are over here!" She wheeled up to Gilligan. "Gilligan, you heard Joma! We're supposed to stay near the camp! Why did you let the puppy chase you off like that!" About this point she looked up to see Usagi and the rest as well, "Oh…sorry if my friend disturbed your training." she smiled, and reached down towards Gilligan and the puppy, Reena, to pick them both up by the scruff of their neck. Sheena could be heard coming up, though wasn't in sight just yet.

The three teen-genins analyzed the situation in seconds and closed their foul mouth streams off. However, Yusuki began to giggle as he lifted himself off the ground.

"YUSUKI! Don't you DARE!" Both Drake and Usagi shouted at their third in a synchronized voice.

The black-haired genin was on his hands and knees, ready to stand up and give his nasty greeting to the younger girls – which was to stand and cast a genjutsu that would fill the air with floating rose petals. Then, those rose petals would become drops of blood, before turning into little phalluses. The genjutsu was something that he and Drake came up with on the night they came together as a genin team; and had done so drunk.

The first time Yusuki had used it on Usagi, early the next morning, she had stuck a kunai in his gut, sending him to the med center and causing their first mission – a class C animal seek and retrieval of a local's pair of pet tigers – to be exchanged for a month's worth of cleaning the village for punishing their behavior.

(Usagi had put Yusuki on the med-center yet again when she had found out that the tiger-seeking mission, her first ever mission, had been given to her cousin, Yukari. Usagi's anger was bad enough that she had broken Yusuki's left arm and leg when Drake had mentioned it while they sparred.)

Since having been put into the medical ward wasn't enough of a deterrent, Yusuki had made it his calling card – doing it to every female that spoke to him. It was, at least for his comrades, the funniest thing to witness when Yusuki had done it to the Hokage when they had reported in after their next, month-long mission had ended. Their punishment: to sort, alphabetically, the scrolls that were stored in the basements of not only the Hokage's public library, but the ten other public-access libraries within Konohagakure as well.

Tsunade-sama had threatened Yusuki, under punishment of having his chakra forever severed, never to do it again. Of course, being the boy he was, he only used the prank on female shinobi that were jounin and below.

Usagi groaned in mortal embarrassment as Yusuki instead, rolled onto his back and cast the Genjutsu anyway…on all of them.

Rose petals began to flutter down from the blue sky; smelling to the world like rose petals. Seconds later, when the petals touched skin, it turned into blood before morphing into tiny, penny-sized penises.

"YUSUKI!" Usagi screamed at him. Drake just sat back and placed a hand over his non Genjutsu-breaking eyes, waiting for the screaming and raining blood to cease.

Wydra - immediately suspicious when rose petals came suddenly floating down out of the sky at this time of the year - was already a little offset by the Genin's behavior. Gilligan blinked, not too suspicious, until it turned into blood. She wouldn't have thought much of this, even after the third effect set in. She was educated about the third item from her messed up family, but knew this was intended as something quite malicious from other ninja. Sheena hadn't caught up with the other two just yet so wasn't caught in the Genjutsu, but did arrive from the side to see what Yusuki was doing and the poses her team-mates were holding. Wydra had her eyes shut tight and was concentrating. Gilligan just had her face scrunched up like she was getting really pissed off.

There was a very loud series of chain-clinking noises, all within the span of a second. What Sheena had done was expel most of her chains, all except for a couple of the links that were attached to her body itself, into the ground; forcing them to travel just below the surface - waiting for the time to strike. She did the necessary hand signs, and backed up for the running room required for the jutsu. She launched herself into the air, aiming straight at the genin but mostly at Yusuki. Her entire body spun, her multi-spiked cap acting like a drill – the cap itself grew larger and larger. As soon as she came into sight, she expended a bit of chakra to boost her speed. If Yusuki didn't dodge, he might not be dead but he would get pretty fucked up.

Gilligan had already started doing a long series of hand-signs for a rather complicated Jutsu. They'd been attacked before so they were going by instinct, which would explain that, although Wydra was staying still, she was building up chakra. Before she had, though, Wydra had gently tossed the puppy into the nearby bushes. Depending on the genins' reaction to Sheena would decide their next actions.

Usagi, Yusuki and Drake all sensed the tension and immediately responded in such; Drake as the analytical mind, Usagi as the speed and Yusuki as the power. However, Yusuki was shoved forward to receive his punishment. Usagi frowned as she lowered herself – that shoving foot would come down and her body would follow. The black-haired girl rushed at Gilligan as Drake moved for Wydra. Usagi covered her body swiftly around her target as Drake swept Gilligan off her feet to take cover.

Yusuki, however, was unfortunate enough to take his hit in his black-armored stomach – the ground beneath him buckling into a crater six feet in diameter. Although his stomach was torn open, the pain that would have normally knocked a ninja out was converted into chakra and stored.

"AAAH DAMN IT! There goes the neighborhood!" The black, blue and purple haired genin coughed up blood.

As Yusuki got hit, and after his last words, chains would erupt out of the ground. First, coming out from under his feet; shoving to knock him off the ground; then wrapping around his arms and legs, pinning him down. If done properly, Sheena would let out a low whistle to her team to let them know the target had been neutralized, and the other two would simply use replacement jutsu, their real bodies ending up next to Yusuki.

If it didn't work, the chains would wrap around him as best they could and Wydra would have a replacement jutsu used on her, to be replaced by a copy of Gilligan. Both versions, copy and real, would start bleeding from multiple orifices and appear to be shrinking, and began reaching towards Usagi and Drake as though for Help. Wydra would be nowhere to be seen.

Drake and Usagi, both having their cover targets vanish, spun around on heels to face their previous location. What they saw freaked them out. Both the children that Yusuki had used his Genjutsu on were standing next to him as the chains wrapped him up tighter than one of Yukari's hair-wire traps.

"Yusuki, you idiot! See what you've! These kids obviously aren't our kids from the Academ. We've run into rogue ninja!" Usagi berated her comrade as she scooted closer to Drake. Different things scare different people, and ninja were trained to ignore common fears – fears that civilians had such as fear of heights, gore and death – but seeing the chains launch up from the ground spooked Usagi.

"WHO ARE YOU KIDS!"

Wydra laid a hand on Sheena's shoulder, and the chains stopped tightening around Yusuki. She then turned towards Gilligan and gave him a stern look, and he stopped doing hand signs, looking down at the ground dejectedly as built up chakra dispersed out of her slowly. Wydra then turned:

"We're just visitors, our camp is back that way, and as far as we knew we were going to leave in a few days. We were just playing with our puppy when you provoked us. I probably would have just let it go but this little girl," she pointed to Sheena. Now that her chains were off, her tortured body could be mostly seen. "Has an issue when anything is done to her friends. This boy…" she pointed to Gilligan. "…is mentally unbalanced. So this girl…" she jabbed a thumb into her own chest. "Is the one you should thank for your team-mate's life right now, or he'd be dead." With that, Sheena would just pick up Yusuki's body with the chains and threw him at Usagi.

Usagi would leap out from behind Drake to use her lithe body to catch the wounded Yusuki. "You're such a dumbass Yusu-kun." She would mutter, only half-hearing the kids.

"We don't usually reveal how strong we are, we still haven't, because we like being treated like kids, and we don't like people asking about our horrible pasts. It would be nice if you kept this incident to yourselves." With that said, Wydra whistled for Reena to come back out, and Sheena re-wrapped the chains around her body. They turned to go, and Wydra said over her shoulder. "If you want to talk on more peaceful terms, and get your friend stitched up without your village knowing, follow us back. If not, you should probably get cleaned up."

"We understand that you kids want to keep your secrets." Drake spoke up, taking his normal position of spokes-person. "Please forgive Kabamaru-san his abusive greeting. I and my teammate, Usagi Uzaruki will see to it that he is properly punished."

Drake was always the one to use formal speech when trying to get the other 2/3 of his team out of trouble they instigate. It was one of his personality flaws – at least, to both Usagi and Yusuki. The Inikaze in him was as such to be verbally, formally polite.

"Shut the fuck up, Inikaze, and get your ass over here to heal me!" Yusuki choked out the biting words through blood. "So I made a mistake, I thought the kids were girls, so I used my special genjutsu to make them squeal in…"

The Kabamaru member never finished his statement as Usagi pulled out a thin, senbon needle and jabbed it into his neck; effectively shutting him up.

"Yusuki-ecchi!" Usagi hissed and lifted her eyes to look at the retreating kids. "Hurry up, Drake-kun, Yusu-kun's stomach is gross-looking!"

XXX

Meanwhile, Yukari and Kakashi, along with Shizune, had made their way to the medical center to find Tsunade.

"I wonder what our mission is going to be, Kakashi-sensei." Yukari would ask off-handedly as she looked out the window to notice a crow flying by – a crow that just so happened to wear little bunny ears.

Slapping a hand to her face in surprise, she motioned to Kakashi at the object of her disgust. The bunny-eared crow meant only one thing: her cousin had returned to Konoha and that placed Yukari under restricted movement. Restricting Yukari would inhibit the Uzaruki heiress to accidently cross her cousin's path – a cousin that had vowed to kill Yukari had she the chance. Usagi Uzaruki had one serious blood-grudge against the main-branch's eldest daughter. It was a girl thing, so it was hard to explain to other civilians.

"Well, it's better to be alert now, Yukari-chan. Maybe this mission will help put some distance between you and her." Kakashi had acknowledged the crow and its meaning. He had learned the nuances of how the Uzaruki clan often used common-day birds to send inter-village messages (messages within the village) to each other. It still was odd to see a bird dressed in such apparel – the ears obviously representing Yukari's cousin's namesake: rabbit.

"Shizune, just where is the Hokage-sama in this building?" Kakashi had followed the black-haired aid up to the second floor and set the folders he carried next to hers.

"I'm not sure, but I am guessing she is on this floor; if I'm to judge by the information she requested me to get." The brown-eyed girl that was related to the dead lover of Tsunade finally picked up Tonton – as the faithful pig had followed them to the medical unit – and looked around the halls. "I know she's here somewhere."

Yukari had said nothing as knew that Kakashi knew of her in-effect movement restriction. If she were to leave the medical building, she would need an escort to her apartment. She was in a predicament similar to her classmate, Neji. Cousin pitted against cousin. Usagi hated Yukari for the pair of true-red eyes that Yukari was born with, being hated because she was the heiress, when Usagi was the older one. The positive side was that Yukari was warned by Usagi herself: the dual-color-eyed Kushina daughter stating that Yukari would be killed if she ever caught Yukari alone.

So the Hokage had issued a solution: Usagi's sensei would summon from a specially written contract with the Crows. Okamizu had to alert the Main Uzaruki household via a bunny-ear wearing crow that would fly about the village until seen and noted by a main Uzaruki – namely Yukari herself.

Now Yukari was groaning inwardly as the costumed crow sat on the windowsill to turn a black, beady eye on her before vanishing. Naruto would have just pointed at the dumb crow and laughed, making her feel better about the ill-made situation. But for now, Yukari slipped into an emotionally blank mask and waited next to the counter for the Hokage.

Jake, still in the form of a leaf-nin and on his way towards Abisu and Crystania, managed to pass Yukari and the rest. So he stopped for a moment, noticing Shizune along with them.

"Ah, looking for Tsunade-sama? She's right over there." He went ahead and pointed. He turned towards Kakashi a moment later though. "Ah…Hatake-san, there is something I wish to talk to you about, a moment please." he nodded a little to the side, indicating he wished it to be a private conversation.

Kakashi nodded to the under-cover Jake; noting that Yukari was distracted at the moment, the silver-haired ninja slipped into an empty room with Med-nin Jake. Shizune bowed a polite thanks to the med-nin – not knowing the med-nin was being mind-controlled in a way – and hurried down the hall to find her mentor.

"So, are you the same Jake-san from before, hm?" Kakashi's aloof manner, the same personality traits that turned Yukari on like a raging inferno, shined through as the Sharingan user smiled lazily at the med-nin.

"Mostly. This body is just one of the nins I have in the village that specializes in peaceful infiltration and retrieval. Me? I'm comfortably in here." he tapped his, or the persons, head. "Gotta kill him to get me out, but I prefer you not to. I mostly wanted to give you this…" Jake-Med pulled out a small scroll. "This is a list of ingredients. The end point is a small concoction that could be used to make my sister a bit more manageable when she finally…" he paused, not sure of the right word to use. "…snaps in a few days. You're the second fastest person I know, so I thought it would be best to give this to you as you will most likely be near when it happens."

"Ah yes, the situation you wanted to relay to Yukari-chan through me. I will certainly keep this scroll handy." Kakashi hadn't a clue as to what Jake was talking about. But, being an ex-ANBU and jounin, Kakashi would most likely use his skills of observation and discreet questioning to find out just what this scroll of ingredients was to cure against. Also, asking Yukari would have helped too.

"Wouldn't it be wiser to give this to Yukari-chan?" The silver-haired jounin quizzed Jake.

"Ah, I apologize for the misunderstanding. This scroll is for you, as there are a few ingredients there that I don't have access too here. As piercing as my eyes are, they can't see into dark storage areas of your village. Also, unless you can give me the location of another ninja here faster than you that I can trust more, you are the best recipient. So there are no illusions, and I have no secrets to hide here, the scroll will knockout my sister if she gets too…unruly. Of course, as it can be used to control her, I hold the last and most important part needed to work the scroll. This is only if, for some reason, my elder brother is incapacitated at the time. Above all things, I would try to avoid getting Barokendo to take off his coat." Jake shuddered.

It hadn't happened in a long time, but he would never forget the last time BaRoKenDo got truly angry. He continued: "I would be careful this scroll and its contents don't fall into other hands…even without the full list of ingredients, it is still a very powerful poison." Jake would stand there for a moment, waiting to see if Kakashi had any questions or concerns, before he moved off towards Crystania's room. The under-cover-medical-body-using Darkness ninja-kid wanted to finish his work before he left.

"Hm…I understand. This scroll will help the Wheel nin that we are about to escort." Kakashi nodded and tucked the scroll safely into his nin-jacket and smiled beneath his mask. "I'll be sure that no one else can see this." With that said, the jounin wandered out of the empty room and returned to Yukari's side. He dispelled the genjutsu of him just standing aimlessly and silently slid into the genjutsu; making it real.

"Yo, Yukari."

"Yo, yourself, Kakashi-sensei. What is taking Shizune so long!" she snapped uncharacteristically. It must be the fact that that psycho bitch-cousin of hers was back and now Yukari had to remain within the building.

"Hokage-sama is over here, minna-san!" The red-headed Curitsu popped out of the room in which the two recover-ees were in: Abisu and Crystania. Kakashi and Yukari followed the undercover Jake into the room as the Hokage finished her regular checks on Crystania.

"You two are in shape enough to be dismissed from this ward. But I want you to stay slightly longer so we can set up a recovery program to get you back on your ninja feet." Tsunade then turned to Kakashi and Yukari; then nodded to Otou as he entered the room.

"Well, you're on time I see, Kakashi-san." She smiled.

"Ah, well, I was going to do something else, but Yukari-chan here found me first and this is where I ended up." The silver-haired ninja looked slightly embarrassed and a finger lifted to scratch at his cheek.

"That is such bull, Kakashi, my man, you didn't want to leave Yukari-san alone when you could be with her!" The tri-eyed man, and her other sensei, laughed loudly as he, too, found the Hokage to debrief him on his mission.

"Enough with the chatter!" Tsunade straightened up and withdrew a scroll from her sash. "The mission starts now! Kakashi; you, Yukari-san, Otou-san, Hani-san and Genma-san are to report to the Wheel-Nin camp to act as escorts to our allies. They do not know the areas at all, and I doubt it would be fair enough to just let them wander around when our enemies are still active." The Slug-Master handed the full agreement that she, Skiminachi and Shozaku had hashed out a few nights before. "You are to cater to their needs, and guide them in the etiquette required when negotiating alliances."

Tsunade nodded briefly to Shizune before leading the three-man squad out of the crowed room. Taking them to a more secure place, she continued.

"Also know that Shozaku-san and his clan are to be protected at all costs should either the Akatsuki or any Sound Ninja shows up. I am more than confident that you five will be able to handle any trouble that comes up; as I do not expect the Akatsuki to bother you."

_Great, does that mean you expect the Sound Village to get more cracks at us?_ Yukari's mental question rang in her head. "I don't mean to sound like a genin, Hokage-sama, but I wouldn't be a match for any of the stronger Sound nin nor any of the Akatsuki."

Tsunade's brown eyes turned towards the Uzaruki heiress. "Yukari-chan, I am more than aware of your growing abilities and hereby revoke any restrictions on you and your jutsus. You, if you must, will be able to use the few kinjutsus you have learned and those that you have created."

The faith the Hokage had just shown her astounded Yukari. The red-eyed girl was going to modestly deny the compliment when the blonde-busty-rumped woman continued.

"Furthermore, Kakashi, both you and Otou are to help our young kunoichi if she runs into any trouble." Then, turning to the girl. "Yukari, if you are able to complete this mission, you are hear-by promoted to official chuunin rank."

Those red eyes went wide as Yukari heard the pronouncement. She was going to be a chuunin simply by doing an escort mission. How easy was that! It was a few seconds later before Yukari snapped out of it enough to be aware that the Hokage was still speaking.

"If you have any other questions about this mission, ask them now; otherwise you are dismissed and I expect you to be out of the village before sunset! Dismissed!"

The Hokage finished her speech with a dramatic outwards arm fling – and that action sent her, Kakashi and Otou into action, using their enhanced speed to jump into gear.


	25. Scroll 25

_**Scroll 25: Bunnies**_

As soon as the trio had wandered off, Skiminachi walked out from around a tree he had been hiding behind and approached the three of the older genin.

"Ah, looks like you've run into a little bit of trouble then, young Leaf genins? I've got just the thing for that." he said and started rummaging around under his armor for something. Unless stopped, he'd just walk up and kneel down in front of Yusuki, still searching for that something underneath his armor.

Drake blinked and flinched as the large Skiminachi appeared out of nowhere. It would seem that the genins still had much to learn in the art of subterfuge and catching it before it turned deadly.

"Yes, thanks mister!" Usagi smiled with joy as the large, hulking armored man began to help. "I am Uzaruki-san. This moron in my lap is Yusuki-kun and that over there is Drake-kun. Names shouldn't mean anything to a stranger, right?" The dual-colored eyes of Usagi rose up in self-defense as Drake hissed at her as she rattled off their names.

"My comrade here is a bit daft for an Uzaruki, my man." Drake smirked as Yusuki finally passed out as Usagi knocked him over the head. "Usa-chan, that's not going to help things."

"Oh shut up, Drake-kun." Usagi looked like she was ready to launch into a verbal spar with Drake.

Just then, a two-foot long black rabbit hopped out of the green bushes and crawled towards Usagi, its teeth dragging a porn magazine through the grass.

"Hi Usagi-chan, I brought your porno mag for you! I saw that you were back and wanted to greet you!" The black nin-rabbit stopped next to Usagi as it looked, with blue eyes, up at Skiminachi. "Oho, hi, are you gonna sleep with Usagi-chan next, big guy? I know she likes it big, but by gawd, you have the record!"

Yusuki's head laid in Usagi's lap as the red-eyed girl stared down at her rabbit, Jin. Her face fell into the red-zone as her rabbit nin-animal embarrassed her with its dirty talk. To her left, Drake sat back, allowing himself to flop on the grass as his laughter echoed through the glade.

"Ah, you must be Yukari's relative. To be honest, until you spoke, I thought you might have been the same person; you two look so alike." as he spoke he worked on Yusuki. He pulled a few leaves out of his armor and put them in Yusuki's mouth, 'chew these' was all he said. He pulled a small jar out, putting a strange-colored cream in Yusuki's wound, before putting his hand over it and quickly beginning the healing process. Though not exclusively a medical nin, he had been doing this for a long time and was good at it.

"And no, names do not mean much to me, but actions do. Which is why I would like to know why this one…" he nodded down at Yusuki. "Decided to do what would normally have been a horrifying thing, to a few kids that had been just playing with their puppy. Drake-san, I would have no idea what an Uzaruki is like, as I had not met them before a week ago. As for…what's this?" The large cook laughed as he saw the rabbit dragging its porn.

"Ah, if this had been a weasel I would have thought it was Shozaku's doing!" he continued to listen to the rabbit talk. "Ah, that's what I smelled on you, Usagi. I am…still not familiar with all this land's customs, so I wasn't sure what age you would start at, but so far I've been told it was older than you currently are. Good for you…" he gave her a pat on the back.

Usagi nearly passed out from the way the discussion led. Drake was so busy laughing, that his normal job of medical-aid was left to the giant of a man who was using his chakra to heal the now-unconscious Yusuki. The boy's busted open stomach slowly began to close as Skiminachi's chakra infused into the wounded tissue.

"OH GOD! THIS IS TOO GOOD!" Drake howled as the healing-cook spoke further. "He praises your skillz, Usagi-chan! 'Good for you.' He says!" The green-eyed genin would have been kicked in the nads had Yusuki's head not resided in Usagi's lap. His gloved hands pounded the trampled grass in mirth. "That is a first, Usa-chan, a dude praising your job!"

"Shut UP DRAKE-SNAKE!" Both Usagi and Jin, the rabbit, shouted in sync – Jin proceeded to speak further.

"Oho! That must mean you are growing in your skills, Usagi-sama!" the black rabbit hopped in happiness. "If a regular ninja male can smell you, then your charms MUST be working! What do you say, big guy, are you gonna be next!"

"Haha, I know it is strange here for a man my age to say such things. but I would also not insult the ways of a courtesan." he said to drake, "My mother was a very skilled geisha, and as such, I would ask you to watch your words. Where I come from, such skills are rather praised, though not as openly as I have praised yours. Ah, we appear to be all done here", he looked down at Yusuki, then stood up.

"And no, little rabbit, I am not next. I fear I am of an age where I have gotten rather picky. Though I am attractive, your trainer is not my type." he would pat Usagi on the head.

"I'm sure if she gets bored, my friend Shozaku would not mind your attentions. Although, Usagi-chan, if you turn red at the mention of it, why is that you do it?" That was more of a rhetorical question, but she could answer if she wanted.

"Well, I should probably get back to camp. when irritated the children tend to eat a lot, or rather Gilligan does. is there anything else you wish of me before I go?"

Yusuki, having been his opened stomach healed, sputtered and opened his yellow-blue eyes to look into Usagi's red. "Crap, man, what'd I MISS!" Taking stock of his surroundings, the punk-genin sat up, yanking the senbon out of his neck muscle and stretching it to stop the bleeding – the wound was nothing more than that of an unwanted piercing, the senbon needle was that thin.

"Oh, hey, Jin-rabbit, my man. Did you bring us porn again?" the black-blue and purple haired boy grinned a dazzling, white smile before turning to Skiminachi. Leaping to his feet, the radical genin bowed to the Cook-who-heals. "Ah, you there, thanks for closing my stomach up again. It would have been bad if the Med-ninjas had to write another report for me again due to injuries."

Drake, having finally stopped laughing at Usagi's predicament lumbered to his feet and inhaled, exhaled and moved to help Usagi to hers.

"Yea, Thank you for helping heal my friend, mister." The bookie-genin grinned as Usagi bent down to collect her rabbit and porno mag. "Is there anything we could do to apologize to those kids?"

"Hell no, I ain't apologizing to no stinking brats." Yusuki turned towards Drake and sneered. "Besides, they were all girls, right? I had to show them how manly I am!"

"Yusuki-chan, just shut your mouth." Usagi whipped her right hand upside Yusuki's head and then grabbed it to force him into a submissive bow.

"So sorry mister, my friend thinks all the girls can't resist his charms." The Uzaruki cousin held the rabbit and magazine to her chest. "I would feel most humble if I got the chance to apologize to those girls."

Skiminachi just laughed at the genins.

"Ah; manliness coming from a person that had his stomach torn open. As for apologizing to them, well, if you can find them apart, you may. The chained one, the girl who was responsible for this, has had some very…bad issues with men in her past." His tone for that was a bit grave, and he hoped they did not make light of it.

"If the three of you have no further business, Usagi-san may follow me back to cam-…all girls? Did you just say they were all girls?" Skiminachi's voice faltered for only a second, revealing mild confusion but growing apprehension. Though it might not sound like it, the question was very important.

"Yea, duh man, girls. Can't you tell that those kids were girls! They are gonna make somebody very happy in the future!" Yusuki brushed off Usagi's hand and straightened himself. "If that is so, then I guess I ought to apologize. We don't want to hurt the ladies, now, do we?" That was a rhetorical question as Yusuki dragged Drake up next to him and Usagi. "So, where is this camp of yours? I noticed you're not from around here." Yusuki was not exactly the brightest crayon in the box. "Your ninja-band depicts a wheel rather than our village leaf. I was unaware that Konoha dealt with the Wheel bastards."

What was this? Yusuki knew of the Wheel-nin? The casual tone of Yusuki as he spoke of the Wheel Nin would give even Skiminachi pause. It wasn't common knowledge that Team Usagi had taken a mission by a man bearing the same symbol. Nor was it the Hokage or any of the Konoha debriefers that gave it.

"Yusuki-kun, we weren't ever to mention that mission to ANYONE!" Usagi instantly grew extremely nervous.

Skiminachi did raise an eyebrow, assuming if anybody it was 'that' person. Unfortunately, if anything that instantly angered him, it was speaking ill of the Wheel Village. Using the phrase 'Wheel bastards' wasn't exactly the most polite thing. Yusuki would find himself flying through the air, having been punched in the side by a rather gigantic hand. Skiminachi turned towards Usagi and Drake.

"Ah, I apologize for the outburst. I do not take well to ill words of our village, at least from those I do not perceive to be enemies. It is good I am known for being calm then, eh?" He hadn't forgotten what they'd said, he did intend to somehow get the information but now, and by his own hands, was probably not the best way to do it unless one of them slipped up further.

"YUSUKI!" Usagi cried as he went flying backwards from Skiminachi's blow. "YOU'RE AN IDIOT! Drake-kun, go see if he needs healing."

Once again, Usagi bowed to the large, and now in charge, ninja.

"Please forgive my idiot friend; he merely speaks out of concern for my body and me. If you need more information, I will place myself in your custody and answer any questions you have."

Being the serious diplomat, Usagi would undoubtedly become Konoha's greatest courtesan Kunoichi. But for now, she was wriggling her team out of apparent trouble as Yusuki's big mouth had put them in again.

"Usagi-chan…" Both Drake and Jin-rabbit look at their black-haired comrade in concern.

"WHO WANTS TO LOOK AT PORN!" Jin broke the tense situation and leapt out of Usagi's arms with the porno mag. "I got this from the great Toad-Sage and the Icha-Icha Paradise collection!" The rabbit had lost it in this scary situation. Its eyes were open wide with uncertainty.

In the rabbit's eyes, Skiminachi was now lord and master of the training grounds and to be feared at all costs. It wasn't every day Jin saw the strong Yusuki knocked out cold with a single punch. But then again, Jin dead-bottom on the judging scale when it came to threats. The black rabbit was just daffy and stupid. The large man just clapped his hands to his stomach and laughed, much like Santa would.

"Ah, children. All is forgiven, where I come from matters are dealt with either by fist or by fork, and this has been dealt with accordingly. Though, you mentioned wishing to apologize to the girls, so you should come with me. If nothing else, I would rather you have a better understanding of us outside of the few ninja we have interacted with much so far, so the village does not get the wrong idea. You, however…" he pointed at Jin. "You will stay here. If the chained one saw you, or any of them besides Barokendo, it would end badly; for everyone."

Skiminachi turned to walk away, before looking over his shoulder at Usagi.

"Usagi?" he simply said her name, leaving the 'Are you coming' unspoken. Usagi nodded to the large Cook before turning to Drake, Jin and the unconscious Yusuki.

"Drake-kun, inform Okamizu-sensei that I will be a hostage for the time being. Tell him that I had to make a deal to apologize for Yusuki's trouble-making. Jin, you stay here and make sure that they get back inside the village, ok! Don't worry about me! I'll use THAT jutsu if I have the need to forcibly escape."

"Oy, Usagi-san, wait just a blasted-gone…she's gone. That girl kills more of my brain cells than my jutsus do. Damn it Yusuki, why'd you have to go and open your big mouth." Drake, it seemed, had a crush on Usagi. But for now, he was stuck healing his punk-team mate and probably be stuck dragging him into the village as well. "Jin-chan, transform into a carrier rabbit please, Yusuki's fat ass is in need of a sled."

"Nu-uh, no way! Drag him in yourself! I'm taking my porn and going back home." The frantic black rabbit bit the bindings of the magazine, took it and tore off running into the bush. Drake sighed in annoyance as he was left alone with Yusuki.

XXX

Upon leaving the hospital, Kakashi might see the ninja Jake was wearing walking out of it as well, moving down the street. Behind Jake though, a large round lump, as though a sphere rising out of the ground, appeared and began to rotate. It spun quickly until the dirt was off of it, and a large eye was showing. The eye itself appeared to be glowing, and a faint voice could be heard as though chanting something towards Jake. Jake himself did not seem to be too aware of the situation just yet, as he was concentrated on other things.

Kakashi, have split off from Otou and Yukari, had decided to find something to do in order to be late. Whether that something was sitting in a tree reading his 'Icha-Icha Paradise' or simply think about his sweet little Yukari, the choice was his. However, when the jounin spotted Jake, that choice became a spy-fest as the odd happenings behind Jake caught Kakashi's attention.

_And here I thought the village would be boring without Naruto-san around. Hm._ Kakashi mused mentally to himself as he followed Jake and the eyeball.

Jake began to notice something going on, but sadly, it was a second too late. The large eye lit up with a bright red flash and a large beam shot out at him, encasing him entirely and making a complete hole in the house behind.

After it was over, Jake's real body began to fall to the ground, having been brought out now that the person he inhabited was destroyed. Immediately after the flash, a large, distorted man popped out of the eye, which disappeared, and damn near flew at Jake. All over the man's body, as he was wearing only pants, were short groupings of stitches. It almost looked like he had sewn-shut eye-sockets in various places on himself. His skin itself though looked a bit baked, as if he had been out in the sun too long, and crumpled in places like pieces of burnt paper. In general, he just looked and gave off seriously nasty vibes.

Although, what others may notice first was him screaming:

"WHERE IS SHE?" The horrible man ran at the small child, those scarred arms poised to capture than to kill. Jake was currently reaching his hand toward his forehead, but if nothing intervened; James would more than likely get to him first.

Kakashi, having been witness to the thirty seconds attack, flinched into action immediately. Performing a Mizu Bunshin (water clone) he sent his Mizu self jumping to intercept James; both his hands wielding kunai knives.

"I prefer to leave the village in peace if I'm to leave it at all." Kakashi growled warningly.

"YOU!" James shouted, his hand going clean through the water clone. There was a large poof of smoke, and James was gone. In his place, or rather the clone's, was a slender formless ninja. It looked as though a mannequin was standing there, facing Kakashi. James himself was behind Kakashi, holding what was now Jack, who was laughing.

"Hello, I'm pleased to meet you…" the formless ninja spoke.

"Sorry eyeball, but she's ours now and you're never getting her back. And you know it's pointless to do anything to me now. Thanks to the copycat here, Jake is safe somewhere else. We can fight if you want."

James shook with anger, and he just simply dropped Jack on the ground, standing there shaking with rage.

The Mizu-Kakashi smiled as it lost its cohesiveness and splashed to the ground, leaving the enraged James to face off against the faceless, formless mannequin.

If James truly wanted to know where Kakashi was, the jounin had put a building between himself and James; awaiting to make a next move.

The formless ninja still held a bit of the water from the clone in its hands, and brought it up close to sniff the water.

"Ahhhhh, James, I feel him near. What should we do for now?"

"Nothing, we'll get our chance later. If that damn ninja hadn't interfered, we'd have her." A sickening crack was heard as Jack got launched through the air with a swift, chakra-enhanced kick, landing within sight and a bit closer to Kakashi. James and the formless ninja would vanish, though not before the formless ninja turned and stared directly at Kakashi, giving a vicious grin.

Kakashi tightened his lips in seriousness as he viewed the parting smile of his enemy. He realized that the mission the Hokage had just given him had taken a dangerous turn.

Jack got to his feet and dusted himself off; or rather, his pants at least. He then walked over to where Kakashi was hiding.

"Thanks for the help. Our special replacement jutsu was almost interrupted. We'll remember this, if the time ever comes." And with that, he started walking away towards an ice cream place he'd seen earlier. He was still in vacation-mode, and would be until the night had passed or things James interrupted again.

Kakashi exhaled and nodded to the raggedy kid, then looked at the setting sun; noting the time he had left until he and his team would have to seriously start their escort mission. He already knew that James was a potential danger to the mission. The Hokage hadn't mentioned it during debriefing, but she had told him earlier that the Escort the Wheel Nin Mission was classed as an 'A' rank.

Kakashi hasn't shown it, but now he was even more worried about his Yukari-chan. She still was marked as a genin officially, but had been on chuunin-level missions before – including their Sneeze-Village bust in the Land of Tea. The silver-haired jounin placed his kunai back into his pack and was off. He didn't feel the need to immediately seek out Genma, Hani-san or Otou, but Yukari instead. He would most likely find her already at the Wheel-Nin camp, ready to begin the mission that would boost her to chuunin level.

Aiming for the north-western gate; Kakashi headed towards the outside camp himself, thinking of excuses to use if he was late.


	26. Scroll 26

_**Scroll 26: Sunset Scenes**_

Yukari had panicked when she realized she had missed out on whatever it was that the Hokage said when she had zoned out. Was it important, a critical piece of the mission? What it more instructions, or simply a pep-talk? Leaping from rooftop to rooftop, the red-eyed girl was zoned out again – forgetting the fact that she had a restraining order in effect.

With her ninja gear packed and ready to go, Yukari decided it best to report straight to the Wheel-Nin camp so the mission could get underway.

Before she got to the village exit, she had to go through an area of low rooftops. Yukari jumped onto a seemingly random rooftop when her feet were yanked out from underneath her.

"OH SHIT!" The Kunoichi yelped as her world turned upside-down. She landed on the down slope of the roof; her arms and legs tied up in a rope-trap. Paces away and on adjacent rooftops; Konohamaru, Moegi, Udon and Mai revealed their hiding places.

"Yukari-sama!" Moegi cried in surprise. The raven-haired kunoichi had fallen right into a rope-binding trap that had been laid in practice by the four pre-genins.

"What is the meaning of this? Konohamaru-chan, this better not be another one of your pranks! I have to report for a mission!"

The blue-scarf wearing Hokage-grandson looked fairly surprised. "Uh, sorry, Yukari-boss, we were practicing our techniques!"

"Yea, Lady-boss, Mai-chan wanted to learn how to lay a simple restraint trap and we were teaching her." The dopy voice of Udon matched Konohamaru's in shock. "We didn't expect anyone to be stupid enough to fall for it."

"Well, I got caught. Congratulations; your trap works. Now let me out of here!" Yukari's arms and legs were twirl-wrapped with tan-colored rope. Their trap rope was the same color as the rooftop – similar enough to easily overlook if one was not paying attention.

"Uh…ok!" Mai flinched as she moved to dispel the trap that held her sister. Konohamaru stopped her, however, as his face went from surprise to mischievous.

"No. Yukari-sama needs to learn a lesson. Naruto-boss wouldn't have fallen for our stupid trap, but you did, Lady-boss. I think we get a reward." Yukari, being upside down, stared murder at the three pre-genins. Before she could say anything more, Shozaku rolled up onto the roof; standing on the other side of Yukari and across from Konohamaru and the rest.

"I thought I heard something good happening up here." He smiled widely as he looked down at Yukari. Where there was mischief in Konohamaru's eyes, there was...a rather lecherous-mischievous look in Shozaku's blue ones.

"What're you kids doing this for?" He sounded serious enough to anybody that didn't know him. The gambler was mostly hoping he could get the kids away as quickly as possible to as to best use the situation to his advantage.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Udon had screamed as Shozaku appeared from no where. The snotty-nosed genin's scream elicited a scream from Moegi, and then from Mai, causing the youngest Uzaruki to take off in fright. Moegi stopped screaming and promptly followed the younger girl, hoping that her young charge wouldn't slip and fall off the roofs. Udon stumbled away from Shozaku and took off after Moegi.

"Moegi-san, wait for me!" Udon cried out to the red-haired Akimichi girl.

"Hey, you guys, wait, where are you going!" Konohamaru quickly lost his superior, triumphant face and took off after his team and Mai. "Naruto-sama is gonna kill us if he finds out we left Boss-Lady tied up like that! WAAIIT!"

Yukari's murderous face slowly slipped into a face that would – if real life physics could allow it to happen – produce the huge sweat-drop of annoyance. Seconds ticked by as the now-quiet roof grew even quieter as the pre-genin team showed no sign of returning.

"…"

"…"

"Uh…I…don't…think they're coming back…" Yukari muttered to herself. Overhead, a crow gave its comical cry:

'Ahoy...AHOY…KKAHOOOY!'

Yukari laid there, her ponytail dangling in the air as the rope pinned her to the tilted edge of the yellow-tan roof. She shifted from her side to her back as she looked up at Shozaku. Shozaku then would step up over Yukari, planting both feet on either side of her waist. The gambler finally looked down at her with an open, lecherousness smile upon his face.

"So…Yukari-chan, you seem to be pretty tied up there. That doesn't look good for you at all." He crackled his knuckles, much in the manner of a person about to do some serious physical exertion.

"W…wait a minute, Shozaku-san, wh-what are you gonna doo…" Yukari's face grew red as her psych already felt a few things her mind played out for her. Both scenarios included physical contact, but as to which path the gambler would take was fairly obvious to Yukari, judging on the lusty look on his face.

"C-can we talk about this first!" the red-eyed girl wriggled, trying to loosen her bonds – bonds that had restrained her legs and pinned her arms behind her back. It was a sight to see as her chest was slightly pushed out; her arms were pinned behind back and front torso was unprotected.

"Wha-what are you going to do!" Her face flushed red as the pit of her stomach roared with arousal. On her covered back, between her shoulder blades; her curse mark pulsed once. It was so close to being activated, but she didn't care.

Shozaku smiled, kneeling and positioning himself so that he straddled Yukari. Given how acute the situation was, she could feel his eagerness for the situation to intensify pressed against her, though he didn't lean into her just yet. He just smiled down; enjoying the sight.

"Now, me? I plan on having a bit of fun." Shozaku smiled slyly and listened to her talk; laughing as she wriggled. He reached over and re-tightened the restraints, not enough hurt, but enough to keep her there for longer. "And what did you want to talk about? I think if there was something you wanted to talk about, you would've said it already. You really don't have to ask me. I mean...does your silence mean you're giving me the option to go on?" Now, the bulge in his crotch would press against her lower abdomen as he sat on her stomach and leaned forward; his face inches from hers as he smiled again. Shozaku placed his hands on her sides, as he waited for an answer.

"Sho…za…ku…-san." Yukari stuttered out; the thousand and one thoughts in her head spinning around like an active Sharingan eye. "I'll bet you can't guess what I taste like."

Her face turned as red as her eyes as her mouth blurted out the words that her mental spin wheel arrow landed on – which, hilariously for her, told Shozaku nearly everything he needed to know.

It was a scene worthy even for a premier edition of Jiraiya's 'Icha-Icha Paradise' novels as Yukari laid there on the tilting roof-side; Shozaku straddled over her in dominance, and the setting sun on her right, highlighting the pair in scarlet-orange romance. Shozaku wouldn't be called a liar if he were to state that he now stood over the most delectable kunoichi in all of Konoha village at the moment. Her blushing cheeks went nicely with the light the sun cast on them both. Shozaku chuckled, shaking his head.

"You're asking a man who's never lost a bet in his life to guess something?" As he spoke he leaned a little more to the side, and whispered into her ear:

"I may not be a cook, but I'm pretty good at…" He'd lick along the side of her neck slowly, savoring the salty taste of her skin. "…tasting things. I've also got a pretty good…" He'd continued, shifting his hips back just a bit, rubbing against her as he did. He moved his hands down along her sides, making her breath catch. His thumbs hooked into the sides of her nin-pants and tugged them downward a few inches. "…feeling I can guess your taste juuuuust riiiiight…"

He'd end the word 'right' by nibbling on her ear; before she would find his eyes looking straight into hers: red versus a dull-glowing blue.

Yukari's whole body shuddered as his tongue caressed the side of her neck; never once regretting instant bet she had just blurted out. Moaning from the back of her throat, Yukari tilted her head back as the Gambler continued tasting her skin as she felt his fingers tug at the edge of her dangerously short shorts.

"Ohhhhhh Shozaaaaku-chan…sooo good." She'd sigh out lustily. "Bu-but you hav-haven't guess yet, G-gambler…" Her breath suddenly became ragged and short, as Yukari would find herself on overheat as things between her and Shozaku spiraled into uncontrolled ecstasy. The kunoichi never wanted it to end; her face flushed more as she stared into his blue eyes, her tongue darting out to wet her lips.

"These things take time, Yukari-chan. Lots…" Those gambling hands would slide up her sides some, his palms resting against her waist as his fingers stretched across her ass. "…and lots…" He'd give her a good squeeze. "…of time. Besides, if I guess now and I'm wrong, then I lose. We just can't have that, can we?"

Shozaku would smile naughtily, noticing her wet her lips before he leaned in and helped her; his tongue tracing along her lips. The gambler had full control of the situation, but he could still make her beg for more. So he withheld his kiss from her, and spoke; his lips barely touching hers. "And if I do guess right, our little game would end. Do you really want the game to…" the tips of his fingers would brush along the edges of her inner thigh as he spoke the next words. "-end so soon?"

Yukari's hips would arch upward; grinding against his crotch as she purred this time; reveling in the heat that she and Shozaku were throwing at each other. Feeing his fingers dig into her ass, she chuckled from the back her throat – the tension and frustration mounting higher and higher.

"Oh no, I wouldn't want you to stop anytime soon, Gambler-san." She breathed out, letting her tongue slip lazily out of her mouth to trace along his lips. "Ending it so soon would be no fun at all…" She licked his lips yet again. "Seeing as I'm not going anywhere fast, there's no need to worry about ending anything yet. Besides –chuckle– I wanna make you lose it…"

As to what 'it' was, Yukari didn't quite know. 'It' could have been the bet she made or his control, or her control – or even something else entirely.

He'd grind back against her, slowly; back and forth. "You would be the first, I haven't lost a bet for a loooong…" as he dragged out the word 'long', he'd squeeze her ass and push her against him, grinding hard for a moment. "…time. And I think I can make you go somewhere pretty quickly." Shozaku said, a lone finger tracing its way up the inside of her leg, across her crotch on the outside of her shorts, before stopping at the edge and slowly tugging them even further downward. Anymore further off, and he'd have complete view of her underwear. His other hand began to slide up her stomach, fingers moving under her shirt.

"Now…where should I start trying to guess…" He'd lick along her lips, sucking her lower lip in for a moment. "Where do you want me first, Yukari-chan?"

"DON'T WORRY, ONEE-SAN, WE'LL SAVE YOU!" A voice rang out from above and Mai jumped down onto Shozaku's back and giggled like the school-girl she was.

"OOOOO Mai, you brat! I wanted to see more! It was just getting to the good part!" Konohamaru's slightly angry voice came next.

"Konohamaru-kun, shut up, if Yukari-sama knows we've been spying on her now, she'll kill us!" Moegi hissed just a bit too loudly.

"Boss-Lady, are you ok down there!" Udon's nasal words asked with concern. "We'll leave if you want us to, isn't that right, Konohamaru-boss?"

Yukari's two-hundred degree fever broke with a snap as it plummeted to below freezing. Feeling Mai's landing through Shozaku's points of contact on her body brought her temperature up to sixty again as his lips were planted firmly against hers. Mai had pushed the Gambler down enough so he and Yukari kissed – a solid, ten-point kiss.

"OOOOOHHH!" The four kids said together from above. Below Yukari and Shozaku came another, youthful filled voice:

"OH YUKARI-CHAN! THAT IS SO BEAUTIFUL!" Lee's voice rang out from below.

He, Tenten, Neji and Gai-sensei had just happened to turn the corner when Mai had landed on Shozaku's back, making him kiss Yukari. Konohamaru and the others would see Lee standing on the dusty road below, his face buried against his green arm as he wept with youthful joy.

"Hai! Way to go, Uzaruki-san!" Gai-sensei posed his epic pose: giving her the thumbs up with his gleaming smile. "It's wonderful to enjoy the days of your youth!"

Next to the pair of green-clad ninjas, Tenten's face flushed at her team's reactions and averted her gaze, sparing Yukari more embarrassment. Neji just stood there and stared blankly as the sunset scene played out on the roof top above.

XXX

"Hatake-san, Danzo-sama requests a few words with you." An ANBU, wearing a black, six-lined mask, a black jacket with no hood would jump into Kakashi's field of vision, and then up to him.

"Now? Great, just great." Kakashi forced himself to a stop and turned to the ANBU who was mostly like a ROOT agent on Danzo's side. "Fine, I'll follow you, and hope that I'm not too late in getting to the Wheel-camp." Kakashi exhaled in monotony and nodded towards the ANBU.

They didn't have to travel very far, as it appeared Danzo was outside walking, enjoying the sunset. The ANBU led Kakashi up to him, bowed respectfully, and disappeared in typical ninja style.

"I am glad you could arrive so quickly." Danzo said, turning towards the Hatake nin. "I have an urgent matter to discuss with you regarding your recent activities."

Kakashi bowed politely to the face half-wrapped in white gauze. "Hai, Danzo-sama. I have a short time before my presence is needed elsewhere for a mission, but I can listen to what you have to say."

It irked him to no end that such a darkly-mysterious faction leader like Danzo wanted to speak to Kakashi. Such an event wasn't that unusual, but the Sharingan-user was what Danzo needed and as such, Kakashi had to respond to the request. It was good that the two were out in the open; so slanderous accusations could not be made against each one another.

Ironically, Danzo had wanted them out in the open for another reason, though the accusations were a part of it. It would be much harder, and look worse for the Hatake, if Kakashi refused what Danzo was going to ask. "I have recently received word that you a non-leaf ninja gave you a scroll of information." The man would stop here, and gauge the Hatake's reaction.

Kakashi, seeing the trap as Danzo spoke, instantly formulated his responding words to answer.

"Yes, I admit that a non-Leaf ninja passed a scroll of information to me recently. It was one of the many contacts I have going with the head of the Uzaruki Clan, Hibachi-dono. I had recently informed him that his eldest daughter had been assigned a mission and that she was going to be gone from the village for some time." Kakashi spoke the truth here, as indeed he had a series of messengers linked to the Uzaruki clan since he worked with Yukari. Another truth was that he did receive a scroll from a non-leaf ninja; as that messenger was from the Bird Clan that hailed outside from the Village hidden in the Leaves.

"Did you want the message that Hibachi-dono wrote to his daughter, Danzo-dono (lord). I hardly think it would be worth your time to concern yourself over such a trivial matter."

Danzo laughed, shaking his head. "Ah, always a master of words; Hatake-san. No, I think you know very well of which I speak, and know that I currently have no reason to place my interest on the Uzaruki clan. Earlier today, not too long ago, in fact, you spoke with a non-leaf nin in the hospital. I am told you have been given a scroll of importance, one that could have an affect on many people." He paused once more, not saying too much beyond that outright, waiting for Kakashi's reaction.

"Yes, I was given a scroll containing contents; but it is required for my upcoming mission, so it cannot be decoded at the moment." Kakashi nodded stiffly as he was pushed into answering.

XXX

_When caught in the act, approach the nearest female in the area because, if you've been blue-balled, you should make everybody else as awkward as you are._ The Gambler thought. Shozaku, seeing his chances ruined, decided to go with what could possibly be a more embarrassing and shameless route. He leaned in and whispered to Yukari, in a completely non-seductive manner:

"This is probably going to get worse, want me to cut you loose so you can get away?" If she nodded yes, he'd free her. If she didn't respond quickly enough, he'd launched Mai into the air and off his back; then turned around to catch her and then tickle her like crazy.

"Your punishment for spying on your older sister, when she is clearly busy and having fun; will be a tickling until you pee!" he laughed, then vanished. Unfortunately for Mai, hands made out of paper money were still at her sides, tickling her all the while. The gambler wasn't joking; he intended to tickle her until she peed or somebody blasted the hands apart.

Shozaku appeared near Gai and Lee, giving Gai's outstretched hand a high-five, before walking over to Tenten and putting his arm around her shoulder. "Now, my lovely kunoichi, did you turn away because you didn't want the ending ruined for you; or because it was too awesome to take in all at once? I know, hard choice right?" He knew he was about to get hit, hard.

Yukari's face was red with both fury and embarrassment. Having been interrupted at a crucial moment of personal fun, the kunoichi; now free from the rope-trap, slid out from beneath Shozaku to go after Konohamaru and his team. She would leave Mai there to take her punishment – the crystal-eyed girl laughing until tears came to her eyes. Yukari only managed to arm lock Konohamaru and Moegi; Udon giving her the slip as he wiggled out of her reach.

"ONEE-SAAAAAAAN!" Mai's calls of laughter echoed off the roof tops. Yukari didn't care as she jumped down off the roof and landed next to Team Gai, giving Shozaku a deadly glare as he got frisky with Tenten.

"Yes, the energy of youth is strong in you, Uzaruki-san!" Gai-sensei grinned even brighter as the gambler's high-five encouraged it. Tenten blushed as she turned to look Shozaku in the eye; being stunned enough to forget what she was going to say.

"I don't know who you are, but I suggest you remove your hands from Tenten-san."

As soon as Neji's cold voice exited his mouth, any residual arousal Yukari had was instantly squelched. Neji and his cold demeanor still scared the piss out of her. She stared at a still-weeping Lee as she gave up trying to hold the squirming Konohamaru and Moegi, releasing them from their headlock prison.

"Mai-chan!" Moegi leapt back onto the roof to kick off the tickling hands – the Akimichi girl was just in time too, as Mai was a hair away from peeing herself.

"That was mean, Boss-man!" Konohamaru stood up and scowled at Shozaku. "How could you do that to Mai-chan! You apologize right now!"

"Kid, I rarely take orders from my superiors; I'm not about to take suggestions from somebody I barely met. Well, at least not from a boy. I would be willing, however, to obey any orders…"Shozaku would turn back to look at Tenten. "…that you should feel free to give me! HEY GAI-SENSEI, I'M GONNA BORROW YOUR STUDENT FOR A BIT, OKAY? THANKS!" With that, the gambler would pick up Tenten and run off around the corner, cackling like a madman.

As he did so, the money-hands dispersed and floated off into the wind, one of the bills floated into Yukari's hands – it had the letters 'LC' written on it. Shozaku had no idea where he'd go with Tenten, but he didn't intend anything serious because he needed to be back at camp soon. He was just having fun before everything got serious for awhile.

Gai, Lee, Neji, Tenten, Mai, Moegi, Udon and Konohamaru watched in confusion as they all went under Yukari's mild genjutsu. What they would see was this: Shozaku was running off with a huge log; laughing like a psycho. Yukari's body would blimp out and explode into a cloud of glitter, the pieces sparkling – mixing with the floating money – in the setting sun and distracting the group long enough to let Shozaku make his get away.

So just where was the real Yukari? She had used a Henge and turned into Tenten – the very same Tenten that Shozaku had run off with. She was scooped up into his arms as the Gambler quickly exited the scene.

In total, the combined efforts of Yukari's henge, explosion-sparkle trap and log genjutsu; and Shozaku's crazy-man antics left a very confusing aftermath for those that had mistakenly interrupted their make-out session.

XXX

"Ah, a problem quite easily solved. I will see to it that a person with skills in decoding is sent to travel with you then, so that both of our goals may be accomplished. It is good we were able to agree on such a thing, yes? If you will excuse me, I have somewhere else to g…" Danzo said, as Shozaku ran past carrying Tenten in his arms. "Who was that?"

Both Shozaku and Tenten – who was secretly Yukari in a Henge jutsu – whizzed past Danzo and Kakashi; giving Kakashi the excuse needed to pardon himself from Danzo's intensive interrogation.

"I ought to go see if that kunoichi is ok." Kakashi bowed to Danzo and vanished; following after his clever kunoichi and the Gambler.


	27. Scroll 27

_**Scroll 27: Red-Eyed Kunoichis**_

Usagi had vanished, leaving her comrades behind. It was a lie to say that she was scared; was terrified to be taken as a political hostage. It secretly thrilled her to be in the power of such a large and powerful man like Skiminachi. Those thoughts, however, were pushed to the backburner as her real reason of going along with the Cook-Healer to his camp. She did want to apologize to the girls for whatever damage Yusuki had done to their psyche.

"I'm honored that you trust me enough to lead me to your camp, Cook-san. I hope I can be worthy enough to earn the forgiveness of the parties involved with Yusuki-kun's awful pranks."

Brushing black lock of hair out of her cerise-colored eye, she was excited to finally meet other Wheel Nin. The first one she had met was a man that had slept with her only months ago. He had given her the time of her life, and asked, vowed her never to tell anyone else. But if the Cook-Healer asked the right questions, she would be able to reveal all that she knew.

"Ah, Although I am the most tolerant of men, which would be surprising if you knew me years ago, it is still good to be around those of pleasant manner, and brighter disposition, isn't that right Usagi-san?"

Skiminachi looked left as they walked towards the Wheel-nin camp. It was still a yard or six away, so they had a small amount of time to talk. The Cook-nin spoke thought-probing words; hoping to get her wheels turning – giving her a chance to reveal her information.

"Anyway, as to what your friend said; I am also a very patient man, but others are much less in that department. It would be best if you did not allude to the fact that you have had dealings with us before, as they will be most curious. I still intend to find out what those dealings were, exactly; but I'm willing to give you a chance to freely tell me what you know before it would have to be forcefully extracted."

"Oh, Yusuki-san was just pissed that this dude gave me the night of my life three months back. The same dude, I think his name was Kenobi or something, had a headband bearing the same sign as you, Cook-san. Anyways, I slept with the blonde-dude because he wanted it." Usagi wasn't ashamed to reveal the information – something inside of her wanted her to share it. "Sensei had given us a break since we had finished a mission that morning. It was in some Wind Country village; that this radical dude, wearing shades like an Aburame, came up to me and started flirting like no tomorrow."

The Uzaruki girl paused in her step, looking to the world as if she had retreated inward in thought. "I wasn't…well…a virgin at this point in time, but I had only been on two missions that required a courtesan. I wanted to try doing it outside of mission limits, so I went with the dude, Kenichi; leaving behind a pissed off Yusuki. Yusuki-kun wanted to be the one to warm my bed." She wasn't sure if any of what she said made sense.

Skiminachi stopped, taking a deep breath, and putting a hand on Usagi's shoulder.

"Kentarou; his name was Kentarou. And this…brings up a large number of questions that I do not think you will be able to answer. He was so very close; I remember traveling through that very village with him before. I find it odd that Kentarou was flirting, as he was usually much more reserved. It seems I am getting quite old to not find you as attractive as you really are, eh Usagi-san? If you have any reservations about not being a virgin, release them. I believe you to be a very good and strong person, and very soon you will be very important, I feel. I there…anything else you remember? If not, tell me of your friend Yusuki for a moment, we are almost at the camp."

He continued walking again, the sounds of chatter could be heard nearby. If she stayed silent, they'd get there quickly enough so it wouldn't be too awkward. If not, he would slow down enough to let her finish what she'd say before they got there. Usagi just follow Skiminachi as she dug deeper into her memory banks.

"Yea, the Kentarou dude had a really great di-" She'd stop talking when they entered the Wheel-Nin Camp, her bi-colored eyes taking in the scene of ninjas riding unicycles. "Wow, cool."

The scene that played out before Usagi's eyes would look something like this: Four ninja on unicycles were riding around in a circle. Or rather, they were moving in a circle but they were facing sideways. They were constantly doing hand signs, and passed a ball between themselves. There was a large tent in the middle of the camp, and outside of it there were make-shift tables that had Joma, Yamira, and Gilligan sitting around. Gilligan waved at Skiminachi as they approached. Sheena and Wydra weren't in sight, if they were around at all.

XXX

Barokendo, Hani and Genma could be seen walking out of the Takimoto District, as Hani and her 'date' had finished their fairly short time together. Genma had entered and told Hani that she was needed for the mission and to follow him. However, Barokendo had just laughed at the puny senbon-user as he took the lead and led them through the village to the Wheel Camp.

XXX

"Well, that was rather fun, wasn't it Yukari-san? Oh well, at least I still haven't lost a bet, because I don't think you know your own flavor, and I'm not so stupid as to ask him." He'd nod his head towards Kakashi as the jounin joined him. "Also, if we're going to discuss what all will happen soon; I should probably make sure the camp is not in a chaotic mess. HEY KAKASHI!" Shozaku would toss Yukari up into the air.

"I think she belongs to you!" Shozaku would holler at the jounin, continued running, now at a chakra-boosted speed to make up for lost time.

Kakashi's uncovered eye went wide with surprise as the Gambler tossed Yukari at him. The jounin had to reduce his speed in order to catch his falling kunoichi.

Yukari was stunned as Shozaku uncovered that she was in a Tenten henge. The moment he said her name, the henge fell away and in the next moment, the red-eyed girl found herself in Kakashi's arms.

"Oy! I'll get you back, for that, Shozaku-san!" She hollered out as he left.

Kakashi chuckled as he placed Yukari on her feet, giving aid enough to keep her steady as she smiled gracefully at him.

"Thanks for catching me, Kakashi-sensei." Together, they made their way towards the Wheel Camp.

XXX

Shozaku would soon pass Hani and the rest, and as he came near he'd get his hand ready and aim to slap her on the ass as he went past. Unfortunately, he was going too fast and missed, slapping Genma's rear instead.

"Sorry!" he shouted as he kept going, racing through the village towards the west gate.

XXX

Gilligan waved at Skiminachi as they approached, the cook waved back and leaned down to whisper into Usagi's ear. "There's the first little girl. Though, I think she has been doing her best to hide as a boy, so I would appreciate it if you treated her as such, okay Usagi-san?"

"Oh, ok." Usagi nodded demurely as she walked over to Gilligan, and bowed. "Please forgive my comrade for his idiotic, stupid genjutsu that he cast on you, Chibi-Kun." Not remembering Gilligan's name, Usagi just used Chibi, which meant small.

Gilligan reached out and gave Yukari a pat on the head.

"It's ok…" she said through bits of food she'd been eating. Swallowing quickly, she continued. "Wydra's training around here somewhere and Sheena's off looking for one of her brothers, said she saw him sneaking around. You should probably make sure your friend doesn't talk like that here, some would kill him and if Baro heard him talking bad about K-chan's village he'd probably go after Yusuki's entire clan. But you seem like a nice person, even if you do smell like you've had a lot of sex recently." The strange part was how Gilligan's tone didn't seem to change much throughout all of her words, and that after she'd spoken she continued to eat, pausing for a moment to say:

"Jus' wai' a few minu'es, everybo'y will be back soon."

"Who? What, when, how?" Usagi would look utterly confused.

At that moment Shozaku showed up, slowing to a stop right behind the bowed Usagi. "I…how did…how did you beat me here?"

Realizing this might be his last chance for awhile, the gambler cocked his hand back and gave the person who he thought was Yukari a nice, full-palmed, smack on the ass. As soon as he'd finished the motion he turned and shouted. "ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY GATHER UP."

Usagi's eyed went wide as somebody behind her came up and slapped her full on the ass. Jumping inches into the air, she turned around and allowed her hand to fly strong, landing firmly against Shozaku's face with a resounding SMACK. Then she would hide behind the cook, the people in the Wheel Camp; giving her the shivers.

"YOU PEOPLE ARE FREAKY!"

XXX

Both Genma and Hani yelped in surprise as Shozaku raced by; missing his aim to tap Hani's fine rear and catching Genma's instead. The woman-medic snickered loudly as Genma's face turned red with confusion and yet more confusion as he felt the Gambler's hand on his ass.

"WHAT THE…!" The senbon in his mouth nearly dropped to the ground before the jounin recovered himself. "Oy, now, I'm not into men, thank you very much."

"Oh, Genma-san, you're hilarious." Hani settled her laughter as she nodded at Barokendo. "No, I am well prepared for this mission, thank you for asking, Barokendo-san." She'd use honorific suffixes when talking to this dark-clad giant of a man. "Genma-san is ready also, aren't you, lover-boy?"

"Oh, Takimoto-san, you are NOT funny at all." The bandana-wrapped head of the said jounin dipped low as he hid his embarrassment.

Barokendo just sighed, looking up at the sky and paused a moment. "Loose once, suffer forever. Thus then are my pledges, thus then are my ways. Until the end of days…" Though, he spoke out loud, it was more to himself. He turned to Hani and Genma and spoke.

"We're almost there, are you sure there is no business left to conduct here?"

Barokendo lead Hani and Genma into the camp, once more stopping his footsteps as he heard Shozaku. "You two go ahead without me. I'm going to take a few minutes and meditate." With that, he'd simply close his eyes and stop moving so much that it was hard to tell if he was breathing or not.

Hani and Genma nodded politely to Barokendo as the made their way into the camp just as the Gambler landed a hand on Usagi's ass.

"Oh dear, this cannot be good." Hani dropped her face into a gloved hand as Usagi reacted in fright.

"Look, Takimoto-san, it's going to get even better…" Genma sniggered as Kakashi and the true Yukari entered from the left side, from the direction that Shozaku had entered from. "This'll be one hell of a cat fight." The green-eyed jounin sighed hopelessly as he looked into the darkening Konoha sky.


	28. Scroll 28

_**Scroll 28: Cat Fight & Love**_

Shozaku looked up, getting a strange feeling that something was about to go horribly wrong. He looked up, saw the real Yukari, and then turned towards Usagi.

"I apologize for my misconduct; I thought you were somebody else. If you are not Yukari, may I ask what you are doing here?" He'd look to Yukari with a confused look on his face, pointing towards Usagi.

Barokendo walked back up, looking his usual stony and possibly angry self, though if you were the type to make eye contact with intimidating and scary people, you'd notice he was staring at Usagi with more than 'who is this' in his eyes. There was a bit of bump moving around under his coat, and then it rolled down his front and disappeared for a moment. A few seconds later, Jake rolled out from under it, walking calmly though his whole body was shaking, to a nearby tree and resting against it. He looked more his age now than ever, as he crossed his arms and tried to pretend he was anywhere but there.

"You thought I was that tramp from the main branch, Ecchi-kun!" Usagi looked pointedly at Shozaku. "I don't know who you are, babe, but I'll be glad to accommodate any fantasies you might have…" The red and cerise-eyed kunoichi slithered out from behind Skiminachi and next to Shozaku, purring like a cat. "Anything at all, you just te-"

"Tch, You would, wouldn't you, Usagi-san." Yukari's icy-acidic retort came from behind Shozaku. She stepped into the clearing next to Kakashi.

"YOU!" Two, enraged feminine voices rang out through the pre-dusk-lit camp.

Usagi and Yukari stood, face to face, kunai and shuriken out in their hands as they literally butted heads.

"Hussy!"

"VIRGIN-SISSY!"

"I am NOT…a sissy, Bunny-freak."

"You so are, you're such a virgin, a carpet couldn't lay you."

"TAKE THAT BACK, YOU FREAK-EYED SL-"

It was here that Genma, Kakashi and an entering Otou had to jump in to forcibly separate the girls. Genma took a cue and started whispering sweet nothings into Usagi's ear hoping to distract the girl enough to forget her need to kill Yukari. Kakashi, on the other hand, wrapped his arm around Yukari's waist and held her up-stretched kunai hand with his other hand.

"OK, Yukari-chan, just calm down here…" Kakashi would order his student.

It was a good thing that the three male nin pulled the girls apart, as Shozaku was nearly squashed between the feuding females. Otou stood between the two, lest they spring free from the jounin and clash again.

It was a mystery how a man that large could be so quiet, or move with such stealth, but Barokendo was now standing directly behind Usagi, looking down at her. There was no anger on his face; it almost looked as though he had a regretful look in his eyes. So close he was that if Usagi were to back up at all, she'd be moving right into his coat, though strangely there would be no spikes to poke at her.

Jake would be standing behind Genma, poking him in the back. "Mister, you probably shouldn't be standing so close. Neither should I, but not for the same reasons." He began tugging on Genma, though not too forcibly, backwards.

Shozaku noticed Jake was standing there, and talking, a few seconds after he got separated from the girls, and his face immediately took on a rather worried and apprehensive look.

"Wait, you're only here if…what're you planning on…" The bald-gambler would turn, almost in slow motion, to look at Barokendo.

Yukari had to be turned around so that her back was facing Usagi, she fought the jounin some, her pride being damaged by Usagi's accusations of her physical status. Usagi, being forced away by Genma, was more thrown off track as the jounin looked up over Usagi's head and backed away slowly, his hands raised in unarmed surrender.

"Easy…I was just talking to the girl, yea." Genma looked nervous, yet relieved that Usagi hadn't extracted a bed-promise from him. "Kakashi-san, you should…um, put some distance between these two."

The Sharingan-user wasn't listening as he had thrown up his nin-band to mesmerize the struggling Yukari with the Sharingan. Having been hypnotized into complacency, Yukari fell into Kakashi's arms as she blanked out. It was a harmless genjutsu Kakashi had used until the situation cooled down.

Usagi, however, had her attention first on Genma, then upwards as her head craned back to look at Barokendo. She froze like a rabbit in the face of a hawk.

"Uh. Hi. Wanna sleep with me? I bet you have a large…"

"USAGI UZARUKI!" Hani Takimoto thundered with a voice that might have come from Barokendo himself. "We are reporting for a mission and I advise you to finish whatever business you have here and be on your way."

Jake, after Genma was a few feet away from Baro and Usagi, went on to make sure everybody else was the same distance. The Darkness-Ninja held his breath, knowing the next few minutes could be very good, quiet, and relatively peaceful; or that something completely opposite.

Barokendo kneeled, though the visual effect was that he just got a bit shorter. His shadow-misty coat was spread like a miasma along the ground, as he spoke into Usagi's ear so quietly she might barely hear him:

"Your business here is concluded; come with me as there is a matter – as I'm told – of great urgency that immediately needs to be taken care of; before Shozaku-san over there gets a good look at you. I am told that you will suffer no ill effects, if you remember the exchange at all. I do not expect you to understand, know only that if you do not cooperate, people will die. If you think I bluff, I tell you I can easily harm all here with minimal effort. I prefer your cooperation, though, so follow me."

Barokendo didn't leave anything up to chance. "I also inform you that I do not wish you harm; as the person that asked this favor of me cares greatly about you. I'm going to leave now, and you should follow. If you do not follow, the consequences will be terrible." The giant would stand back up and look down at her with hunger in his eyes, assuming it would give everybody else the belief that he had returned the courtesan's special interest, then turn to walk away as he had said.

Usagi nodded slowly to Barokendo's words and turned towards an unconscious Yukari, flicked her cousin off, before turning on heel to follow the large, black-clad man.

Shozaku was staring very hard, looking back and forth between Jake and Barokendo. He raised an eyebrow, taking a deep breath, and realized that whatever business with the other Uzaruki girl that Barokendo had, it wouldn't be worth the injuries people receive to interrupt the large man; at least not yet.

"Well…do we need to wait for her to wake up Kakashi, or will you be able to relay all the information to her?" He said, turning towards the copycat-ninja.

The team that had reported for the mission, namely Hani, Otou and Genma had been reading the scroll of debriefing that Tsunade had given Kakashi.

"No, Shozaku-san, Yukari knows the mission requirements." Kakashi gently leaned her against a tree as the red-eyed heiress stirred out of the stupor the jounin put her in.

"Ugh…which Akimichi hit me this time?" Bringing a hand up to her head, Yukari muttered as she came around. "Kakashi-sensei? Are…has the mission started yet since we're here?"

How convenient that Yukari had forgotten the past two minutes. Shozaku blinked and leaned over to Kakashi:

"You've gotta teach me how to do that, it would make things a lot easier for me." He coughed, then turned to all those gathered.

"Okay everybody, now that most, if not all of us, are gathered here; it's time to make sure every thing is understood. The point of this mission is to inform the other villages about the Darkness and Twisted ninja. We should use this time to plan; as their goals and reach have only been slowed by the disappearances of their leaders. I believe that these people will soon come back, and I would rather have warned all that we can because I believe the enemy of the enemy should be friends or at least allies in this fight." Shozaku nodded towards them all.

"I want all villages warned to stand a fair chance against the Darkness and Twisted Nin. The first Wheel team will consist of Trydna, Marosai, Kerosai, Junie and Lilia." he said, nodding his head towards the eldest Shan-chay and the four ninjas that were commonly seen on unicycles.

"Trydna has been all around this continent so knows where to go, but unfortunately he's not a talker and the others have no knowledge of their customs. As Kakashi is the only one I have met personally; is there one among you that would be better suited at...instructing them at what mistakes not to make when talking to officials in the other villages?" He'd look over the gathered leaf nin, hoping one of them would volunteer.

"I'll go with Trydna, Shozaku." Otou stepped up and nodded. "I'll allow one other to go with me, Hani? Genma?" The Tri-eyed sensei turned to his nakama and smiled.

XXX

Usagi had put on a smug, sly smile; a play-mask for anyone who cared to look at her as she left the glade. Inside, however, she was confused as could be as she followed the dark, black-clad ninja that towered three heads over her.

"Ok, I'm here, whatever-your-name-is-sama." She didn't spit the words out in sarcasm, but confusion. The bunny-girl truly didn't know Barokendo's name. "You wanted to talk or play?"

Barokendo sighed, turning his back to Usagi. "My name is Barokendo, and it's one of three names you shouldn't cross. I brought you here for neither talk nor play. You are fortunate I wasn't around when your friend had attacked my little sister's group. I would have killed you to get to him. I have, however, cleared that matter up with her. She knows you had nothing to do with it, and wishes to talk to the one responsible." Barokendo turned around and smirked, about as close as he ever really got to a smile: it still was a frightening sight.

"However, that is not why we're here. As I told you, there is an urgent matter that needs immediate attention, involving you. I also mentioned you would not remember most of it…though he was laughing when he said that. By him, I mean the person I am doing this for; he has hidden his true form, hiding from others who might recognize him. I've also been told to inform you that you cannot speak of this to anyone, not even your nakama nor sensei." The giant man paused, looking to see if the Uzaruki girl was listening. She was; so he continued.

"After his business with you is done; I've been told to take you to the hospital as there is a medical issue that you need to get checked out; a condition that you might not be aware of. I also give you two choices before proceeding with this task; to be knocked unconscious, or be placed under a pleasant genjutsu. Is there anything you wish to clarify before my...well, I suppose right now he is a client…reveals himself?" The Darkness turned Wheel ninja had been trying to sound un-intimidating, something he wasn't very practiced at. If the Uzaruki cousin had known him; she'd know this was probably the most effort he'd ever put into not scaring another person.

"A medical condition? Oh god, you are freaky, Barokendo. Tell me how you know that I'm…I'm…" Usagi would blush furiously as she spoke to possibly the largest man she had ever met. "You know…that there are three of us here?" She'd place a hand on her stomach and looked down. She was quite tongue-tied on the 'pregnant' word, which would be funny for her other courtesan friends.

"I…I guess I'll choose the genjutsu…if that's ok with you, Barokendo-sama."

"Me? I did not. He did. If anybody asks, tell them my brother distracted me and I had to leave. I will talk to you later Usagi-san. Also, given your behavior and current acceptance of what may soon pass, there will be no need to block your memories. I hope you have fun…" He turned to leave.

"…because I never get to…" She heard him mutter. It was one of the few jokes anyone would ever hear Baro attempt to make. With that, the titan of a ninja walked off, leaving her sight as he put trees between them.

A familiar pair of arms would wrap around Usagi as a familiar finger would be placed over her lips, followed by an even more familiar voice, whispering comfortingly into her ear:

"Shhhhhh, don't say it just yet. The big guy knows it might be true because I told him it's possible, but I wasn't sure yet and I won't be, until you tell me it's true." Kentarou spoke into her ear, kissing it gently as though one would a lover. "As important as everything I need to do here is, I have to ask; how have you been Usagi-chan? I will explain things soon, but please wait to tell me whether or not you're with child until the end of the conversation." If she turned to look, she'd see Kentarou, standing there without his unicycle wheel; his spiky blonde hair freely flowing in the wind. His blue eyes flashing that dazzling effect as he smiled and looked into her multi-red colored eyes.

Usagi turned and gasped as she recognized the man that had given her the ultimate pleasure on that night months ago; and blushed furiously. "Ya know, Drake-kun is right, you do look a lot like the Second and Fourth Hokages." Which meant: 'Hot damn, the Second and Fourth Hokages are sexy.' Reaching up to touch her fingers to his circular tattoo marks on his cheeks, Usagi took in all of his physical and facial details all over again. He was as stunning as he was the first time they had met.

"Only, you have Yondaime's hair color and style. Well, it doesn't matter, they both were hot, and I only wish I was able to meet them. Oh well." Usagi gave her lop-sided smile as she stepped back, ready to listen.

"The big guy wanted me to listen without judgment and I opted to take the easy way, seeing how you Wheel ninja aren't our enemies." Her face still held that teenaged delight of meeting her prince charming.

XXX

"I would prefer that whichever of you is a practiced medic travel with my group. Lilia is proficient herself so they have that covered. Skiminachi is going his own way and refusing anybody that wishes to accompany him. He has, so far, been our medical caretaker." Shozaku had stopped talking loudly, and was now standing amongst Otou and the rest so that the others of the wheel-camp could resume their business.

Genma, Hani and Kakashi nodded to each other as Yukari shook her head and woke completely up.

"I guess I shall go with Otou-san, then." Genma nodded to Shozaku. "Unless you want to break this up into further groups. Each for the one of us." The brown-haired sexy jounin winked at Hani, sending the woman into a furious smirk.

"Oh, Shiranui-san just wants to be grouped with Shozaku-sama, to get…ah…more acquainted with him." Hani teased Genma back.

"Takimoto-san, again, you aren't funny. I bet I'd laugh more at your face than your jokes." Genma flipped his senbon with his teeth and grinned as the Takimoto woman came over and punched him in the shoulder.

"I say this often Genma; I have never lost a bet…" Shozaku would shudder after a momentary pause. "…ever. Anyway, if the two of you would, Genma and Otou, introduce yourselves to your group, it'll speed things along." Shozaku would nod over to Trydna and the quad-sized unicycle-nin group. Turning to Kakashi, he continued. "Well, is there anything else that needs to be taken care of? Farewells; supplies…quickies?"

Kakashi's brow lifted as he heard Shozaku's last word. Yukari just looked at Genma, Kakashi then Shozaku and shook her head before retrieving her travel pack that had fallen when Usagi had rushed her.

"Otou-sensei, be careful out there, ok!" Yukari would say to her undercover ANBU sensei. The man nodded and placed a hand on Yukari's shoulder, smiling.

"You too, Yukari-genin, soon to be chuunin!" the plain man smiled as he and Genma went over to introduce themselves to the first Wheel-Nin group.

Hani, Yukari and Kakashi stood next to each other as the Takimoto woman finished securing her medical supplies.

"I'm ready here, what about you, Hatake-san?" The woman would be the medic traveling with the group Shozaku was with. It was her off-handed thought if Barokendo would be traveling with them or Genma's group.

XXX

Kentarou smiled and laughed at Usagi's innocent nature.

"Haha, you still didn't answer my question, but I suppose you were never very attentive to some details…" He then would plant a kiss on her lips. "A lot of what I have to say won't really be for you. Baro-san just got a little mixed up when he said you won't remember most of it. There are...a few developments I have found out recently that I wish to put into the message for my fellow Nin, mostly Shozaku. Though, I do have a few things I wish to tell you afterwards so don't be too disappointed. May I…see the seal?" The Second/Fourth Hokage looking man asked; one of his hands already over it even as the other arm stayed around her. Kentarou wasn't sure just how long he had free of his own sealing jutsu, he wanted to get as much of her as he could while he was here.

"Uh, the seal…sure…" Usagi nodded and reached down to lift the front flap of her black-blue uniform. She then lifted her left leg, the leg that had a third of a wheel seal, and placed her ankle on Kentarou's shoulder. This action, as amazing as it was flexible, revealed the seal to Kentarou. She then pulled down her small-knit net stockings down so it was uncovered.

"Always such a giving person; one of the things I love about you, my sweet little bunny." Smiling, the leader of the Wheel Village leaned in and placed his mouth on the seal. This was how he'd put it there the first time, and the only way he could change it without messing it up. Of course, he could have picked a different spot but he'd also wanted it to be good for her too; which might make more of an imprint when he started tracing his tongue all over the seal, licking on her inner though. He caressed along that part of her leg while blowing chakra into the seal to store the new message. After a minute, he would stop the transfer, and move his mouth away from the seal, though he'd keep his head close to her crotch as he looked up at her.

"Ah, you are so beautiful, so sexy, my Usagi." The blonde-haired man paused for a moment, sighing happily. He had something, things rather, he wanted to tell her that had nothing to do with what the past. But he just couldn't concentrate as he looked up at her, his focus momentarily gone. A powerful man indeed, but one easily swayed by a lovely woman.

Usagi's face finally turned red, moaning as she was enjoying his chakra-induced kiss to her inner thigh.

"Oh gods, Kentarou-chan…just like that night…sooooo delicious." She moaned as the Gankage induced his chakra-based message. "Why is it you are always so secretive, Ken-chan?" She was well balanced on her single standing leg as her other limb was draped over his shoulder. Being a kunoichi courtesan had its pluses.

"Because, sadly enough, evil men have laid a labyrinth around me with which truth will bring things down. So, with secrets I am shrouded with." He gave her a few more kisses along her inner thigh before standing up, putting her other foot back to the ground, and looking into her eyes.

"It may…make sense in a few more minutes, the odd way I tend to do things." He'd hold her close in a hug, and a moment later she would feel a scroll being placed in her back pocket. If she didn't have a back pocket of her flap-split skirt, then the scroll and his hands would just go into her shorts. Although it was a good reason for him to squeeze her ass, Kentarou tried to get as much of her as he could, but knew time was limited.

"This scroll explains more about me and the man…sensei; that taught me. I found and spoke to him first before coming to you, and he consented to train you. You won't know why until you meet him, but you already have something in common. I…am not sure just how much longer I've got. Before I have to go, is there anything you want of me, or want to ask me?" The Wheel-Village head truly wished he could be here for another day, or at least, few hours more.

Usagi sighed wistfully and looked up into the red-purple skyline that the sun had left behind. "Oh Kentarou, it's not that horrid Snake-ninja, that's got you trapped, is it? I vow to seek that turd out and kill him."

Her statement would have sent the many Konoha ninja that knew her into fits of laughter; a rabbit killing the snake – Usagi Uzaruki defeating the sannin Orochimaru. It mattered not, however, as the kunoichi unhooked her leg from off his shoulder and leaned into him as the wisps of love twirled around her heart.

"I thought I'd never see you again after that god-blessed night you gave me." She blushed and slid a hand into his. "You know, if I am with a brat, the Hokage would have to take me off the courtesan list until far after. The brat might even bear Uzaruki genes. Who knows…"

"Ah, I think his name was Orochimaru? No, such a man does not hold sway over me. All I can say is; nobody knows where exactly he went before he returned to Konoha. The men with which I have battled, and will again soon, have lived long and learned much."

He held her hand and held her closer still. "Who knows what kind of genes the child may have. I hope that is the Hokage's reaction; taking you off that list. I know...I may ask a lot, but try not to do anything that would endanger the possible child. I only ask because you'll be traveling with the Wheel-nin. Also try to get along with your cousin; if only enough to be civil and not to kill each other. Now…I can feel certain things coming; it seems I am beginning to push the boundaries of my agreement. I wish I could wait but now I must ask…are you with child? If...there is any doubt in your mind, I can check myself…" He held her tight; as though this was the last time he might get to do so.

Usagi grinned and ran her nimble fingers through is wild, spiky blonde hair. "Yea, I'm with brat, and Yusuki-chan is livid about it. I think you may have to watch your back for him, not that he'd really kill you…maybe just neuter you for life." Usagi laughed for a second before she processed the all of what Kentarou said. "NANI! Travel with the bird-brat! She's so immature…the amount of sexual knowledge she has can't fit a senbon tip."

The black lock of hair fell once again to cover her cerise-hued eye as she pouted. "Hibachi-dono is an idiot making her the heiress to the Clan." She sighed, her body melting in his hands. "But if you ask this, I'll do it. I'll go with the Wheel-peoples."


	29. Scroll 29

_**Scroll 29: Delayed Time**_

Shozaku nodded as the two Leaf Jounin, Otou and Genma, joined their group.

"I guess we'll just wait here for a few minutes. Baro's the only one that can call his sister back and he's not done with…whatever it is y-" The gambler's statement faltered as Baro walked back into camp. Shozaku just sighed.

"Every time I think I know what's going on, or speak truth; it changes. Being a leader must be like being with a woman. You're always wrong. Isn't that right Kakashi-san?"

Kakashi grinned slyly as Yukari gave the two men a deadly curious glance with blood-red eyes.

"Hai, that's right, Shozaku-san; women are always right when the man is wrong." Was all the jounin said as he packed his gear and moved away from the Wheel-nin camp.

Baro walked up, noticing his brother Jake had already disappeared. Because the Uzaruki girl hadn't put up a fight, or dragged others into it; Jake wasn't needed. The large man looked around the camp, and turned to walk over to Kakashi.

"Why do the two Uzaruki women have problems with each other?"

"Ah, well, that is because Usagi-san isn't the proclaimed heiress to the Uzaruki Clan. Usagi wishes to inherit the Will of the Uzaruki and manage their finances. She is twice as skilled at financing than Yukari-chan is. Yukari-chan isn't best choice when in charge of the finer points of money. If it wasn't Hibachi-dono's decision, then I would nominate Usagi-san as the heiress. It's not as if there is any bitter hatred of who was born to whom. Usagi-san is the daughter of Hibachi's younger brother, and is older than Yukari, but Hibachi's friendship with the Hyuuga patriarch may be a slight influence on his decisions." Kakashi hadn't taken off like an arrow yet, because he and the other Leaf ninja were waiting on the three children that had began this whole adventure.

"Thus, Usagi bitterly hates Yukari's golden-spoon privileges, and thinks she herself would be better suited for the future role of Uzaruki-sama, or the Clan Head."

"That problem has to work itself out or be left behind; because Usagi-san is going to be traveling with…us." he said after a slight pause, during which a very concerned look passed across his face. The towering giant whistled very loudly, and shouted:

"GET BACK HERE! NOW!"

The black-clad giant normally didn't bring his inner anger out, but it helped his younger sister comply that much faster. And within seconds, the other two children and puppy were standing with Gilligan behind Barokendo.

"Like I was saying, Usagi is coming with us on our travels." He stated again.

"Ah, that would help greatly if you would tell me why. Is it because she placed herself as a political prisoner?" A voice came from behind Kakashi as Okamizu-sensei stepped out of the shadows with a group of three other jounin friends.

Drake had delivered Usagi's parting message to his sensei and the undercover ANBU agent had responded swiftly. Having reported Usagi's return to her parents: Hiago and Kaiko; the tri-eyed man had gathered some of his friends to track down his errant genin student. His lateness was due to the time it took to gain an audience with the Hokage.

"I assume, Hatake-san; that you will watch over my student, eh?" Okamizu nodded professionally to Barokendo. "She can be…a handful for some males."

"Prisoner? She has more freedom with her current company than she's ever had in her life – and more access to power, but only for the next minute or two. And no, I can't tell you why." Barokendo couldn't pinpoint why, but he felt himself getting irritated with the present growing company. Baro smirked at Okamizu's last comment.

"Probably, but not in ways I'm not used to dealing with. By now, your genin has already agreed to come with us. Chances are; she'll even put up with her cousin, though not…happily. But, enough sharing; Sheena, come here and get a good grip on me. Gilligan, get under the coat. Wydra, stay next to them…" he pointed at Kakashi and Okamizu. "Failure to comply will result in immediate retribution."

The three children did as commanded. Sheena passed Reena to Joma before they moved, although they had very confused looks on their faces.

Yukari's face was contorted up like she had just eaten rancid meat: her cute brows were pushed against each other, her lips snarled in an unpleasant manner and her body language showing that she was extremely nervous and upset upon hearing her cousin would be traveling with them. Knowing Usagi's grudge against her would most likely result in her stealing not only Genma's attention, but Shozaku's as well. What rotten luck. The snooty older girl always attracted the cute jounin.

"Whatever." Was her reply to Barokendo's announcement. "Wydra, let's go stand over there…" 'Over-there' was three tall oak trees that whispered as the twilight wind caressed the leaves.

XXX

"Ah, so your…" Kentarou began to look like he was straining against something. "Team-mates do know. Oh well, I would have left…" Anybody in the area could feel a large amount of chakra being used, though nothing was visible yet. "…whether or not to tell anyone up to you; and yes…Baro and Skiminachi…I can trust to protect you…no matter…what happens…"

Kentarou was straining against a pulling, invisible force, speaking through clenched teeth as he fought against its reins.

"If you would…please go back to the…wheel camp now, I can't…hold it off…much longer. Remember…I love you…"

"Aishiteru, Kentarou-chan." Usagi hugged him close as she whispered. She quickly removed her nin headband and placed it on Kentarou's arm. "To remember me by, Kentarou-chan, and the two nights we had together!"

She watched as Kentarou struggled against the pulling force; her heart leaping clear into her throat. It would seem that she had found her soul-mate in this man, and never wanted it to change.

"I'll be waiting for you, always."

Kentarou smiled, then straightened up and a large burst of chakra seemed to be let out. All around the area; crackling as though thunder claps ran rampant through the forest were heard.

For a moment, a wave of darkness passed across the surrounding land, the world itself fell into vertigo; and nothing was right. Two voices could be heard, one screaming the word: 'ASSEMBLE' in a long and stretched out angry tone that sounded like an older version of Barokendo. The other just whispered incoherently. Kentarou's body seemed to shift, fading out slowly, as he continuously did hand signs; until at one point his body stretched and contorted until it was in the shape of a wheel.

As the wheel began to spin, all the darkness; the whisperings of insanity, were drawn back into him. Moments later, he too, disappeared. After that, it was as though nothing had happened at all.

XXX

Back within Konohagakure, it had been two hours since Yukari had left Team Gai, Team Konohamaru and Mai behind. Team Gai had shaken off the effects of the sparkling genjutsu that Yukari had placed them under, and went their own ways; eventually forgetting that they had interrupted the Gambler's fun.

Mai and Konohamaru, along with Moegi and Udon had run after the grips of the Gambler's insanity – namely the floating paper money and tickling hands. The four kids had gathered all the floating money only to discover the currency were green leaves under a genjutsu. Being bummed out, the trio escorted Mai home before going home themselves.

Meiko had finally returned home to receive the punishment that she had put off all day. Her father, Hibachi, added another five minutes to the sentence because she had shirked her responsibility. So it was the close of day that found Meiko scrubbing both her sisters' bedroom floors.

Kensuke, having been completely involved with the care-taking of the newest batch of bird eggs – sixty in total – missed giving his unusual farewell to his sister, Yukari. It mattered not, however, since the birthing of the newest generation of messenger hawks counted more in importance.

Meko, having been asleep since betraying the Akashingan secret to the inquiring Eyeball, woke up with the decision of taking his own journey. He would return to his birthplace to pester his honorable grandmother and mother. The Secret Land of the Ninja Cats was a place that humans rarely went. Like all Animal Villages, summoned or not, the lands were located on its own continent.

Toads, Slugs, Snakes, Dogs, Insects, Hawks, Eagles, Weasels, Ravens, Fish, Turtles, Horses, Foxes, Wolves, Birds, Cats, Crows and several other species of animals resided all on this extremely large continent. Many of the Animals allowed, however, ninjas who met certain requirements, to travel to their respective lands to forge contracts and mutual deals. Meko would go there to investigate and relay his experiences with the Wheel and Darkness ninjas – a type of offspring mission that mirrored the one that Yukari had been assigned to. The black and white cat would report the threat of the Darkness and Twisted Ninja to the Animal Villages. The act would earn him favors that he would horde for years to come.

Curitsu, Shizune, the Hokage and other Medical Staff closed their day, making preparations to release the newly healed, once-terminally ill, patients to the outside world.

Abisu and Crystania had all but become fast friends, relating their life-stories to each other; laughing, mourning, crying and joking over the rocky information digested. Yuro, having been cleared to walk around the halls, had entered their room and joined in their escapades. The trio swelled with positive energy as friendships began to bloom.

Hana Inuzuka had been enraged that one of their puppies had been stolen; having the greatest urge to go out and steal it back. It was extreme luck that the stolen puppy wasn't born of one of the Inuzuka Clan dogs…it would have resulted in a terrible clash of villages. But when Yukari's messenger bird delivered its message, explaining the situation, the Inuzuka woman still was angry. But when the puppy had been paid for twice over, Kiba's older sister couldn't do much but brood and snap at Kiba. Poor Kiba.

That same stolen puppy, now named Reena, was sleeping like a rock, curled up in Sheena's arms. Being safely put under the ownership of three people; Yukari, Naruto and Sheena, the four-month old dog was going to be very active in the days to come. Yukari had used her and Naruto's money to pay for and cover any hard feelings that might have come from Hana. The Uzaruki kunoichi just hoped it would be enough.

Drake had no trouble in reviving the idiotic Kabamaru genin and told Yusuki of Usagi's actions. Yusuki, having been brushed off by his Usagi, stood in rage and vowed most loud to rescue his kunoichi. Drake, having knocked the jackass out again, ended up leaving Yusuki's sleeping form on the step of the Kabamaru Household. The Inikaze genin then went to tell his sensei about Usagi's problem.

Jin, having fled the scene far earlier, had returned to the Uzaruki Usagi apartment and…enjoyed the porno magazine, which had not really been printed for humans - nor did it have female human nudity – it was a catalog for buying rabbits. Jin had enjoyed himself quite thoroughly when he gazed at all those lovely female rabbits. The night found the rabbit zonked out and asleep.

XXX

Further away from the fated meeting of Kentarou and Usagi; Barokendo struggled against something, although his cause was different. His coat seemed to flow around Sheena, holding her still, and within it he held Gilligan in place. When the evil voice began to scream: 'ASSEMBLE' Sheena let go and turned, as though going towards the source of the voice. Gilligan, likewise, was drawn by the incoherent rambling whispers. Sheena herself was unable to control her own body, whereas Gilligan's voice could be heard screaming:

"LET ME GO! HE'S ALIVE! MY DADDY'S ALIVE! YOU LIED TO ME!"

Wydra looked confused, panicked even, for a few seconds before her back lit up and she fell forward off her unicycle, into Yukari. Her arms immediately wrapped around the soon-to-be-chuunin, squeezing tightly as she tried not to scream from pain. Her body began to get a little translucent, fade out even, and was almost gone up until the point it all went away. After everything was said and done, Gilligan stumbled out from under Baro's coat, crying, and walked into somebody. Sheena just looked scared, and Wydra was passed out, her arms locked around Yukari.

Yukari hissed into the sky as the thunderclaps echoed through out the foresty glade. She held onto Wydra as her back tattoo flared with light. The other leaf ninja: Kakashi, Okamizu and his group of backup instantly went on alert, the jounin group bristling with sharp, shiny, pointy things. Yukari, however, had her hands full with the troubled, troubled girl and held her close as the true echoes of the thunderous noise via Kentarou tapered off.

"Ok, I'm official creeped out now: thunder at night…" Wydra suddenly found herself squished between Yukari and Kakashi. She pressed herself up against Kakashi as the red-eyed Uzaruki girl trembled with frightened, frayed nerves. Had the scene been less tense – the tension so thick it would take the Hokage to cut – Yukari's little secret of fright would be laughable.

Minutes later Usagi would trudge into the glade and glare acidly at Yukari's lame attempt of flirting with Kakashi. The namesake-rabbit kunoichi slid instantly – perfectly and instinctually – into her high-and mighty mask of confidence.

"Oh, hello there Wolf-water-sensei." The girl would say evenly to Okamizu. "Were we expecting a lightning storm or something?"

She would walk by Barokendo, sparing a knowledgeable glance and move towards Okamizu. "I've been given a mission, sensei, and I need to return home and pack."

"Hi there, Usagi-chan." A black-haired male, one of the three assisting jounin, spoke up and waved gaily at her.

"Piss off, Okozaki, I told you, I'm a girl." The offending jounin exhaled sadly and muttered to his friends.

"He lies you know, Usagi-chan is always like that…"

"You Baka, Okozaki, you need your eyes checked again, that genjutsu is back." A female jounin hissed at the gay jounin. "She's always been a female, and not a male for you to chase after."

"…"

"Ooook, Sensei, escort me back home now." Usagi had sweat-dropped when Okozaki had flirted with her based on all the wrong reasons.

Okozaki Hnyy was gay, and always thought her name was masculine. It didn't help that one of her enemies had permanently sealed a genjutsu tag to Okozaki's head with the effect of casting her visually in a boy's body. She, Drake and Yusuki had made that Rock-ninja their first-ever kill because of it. It was that act that was one of the numerously minor things that the Village hidden in the Rock begrudged Konoha. (Presumably the Team Wolf killing a Rock Ninja was on the bottom of the list.)

"Very well, Hatake-san, we shall be returning shortly, as I must inform the Hokage of this development." Okamizu smiled nicely at Usagi and placed a teacherly arm around Usagi's shoulder to lead her back to the village to pack.

Yukari finally looked back to Hani-sensei and Kakashi-sensei as the Water-Wolf and his gang left.

"I say we go now, and let them worry about joining the other group." Yukari muttered unhappily.

Barokendo stepped up behind Usagi. "All of you go ahead, I will catch up later. This one will be suffering my personal protection for awhile, and right now it's very necessary that she doesn't leave my sight." He looked down at Usagi, the look saying: 'don't bother making an issue of this.'

The giant continued over his shoulder, talking to Yukari. "Much to your disappointment; your cousin is coming with us. You two will either learn to co-exist, or you can suffer. I'm told she's already agreed not to kill you."

Kakashi was tackled from the side by a crying Gilligan, who was talking incoherently and had her face plastered into his side, his arms wrapped around the copy-cat nin. Wydra's eyes slowly opened, and Yukari could hear the barely audible. "What happened?"

Yukari, having extracted herself off of Kakashi, smirked as Gilligan tackled the dual-eyed jounin. Outside, her physical demeanor was snickering, while inside, she was mentally banging her head against the nearby oak tree in utter frustration that Usagi had once again butted into her business.

"Fine, I'll manage to survive, Barokendo-sama, but it's more Usagi-san that I would be worried about. She's the one with the death grudge…I just am on the receiving end." Then, turning to Wydra: "Your back, I think, made its own thunderstorm…which ranks number one on my bizarre-o-meter."

"Your face ranks first on my freak-o-meter, dear cousin." A soft voice was heard from the other red-eyed female in presence.

"Your mother…" Yukari muttered back.

"Better than yours, bird-turd."

XXX

Okamizu would get the feeling that he was being watched. He and the other jounin had left Usagi at the camp while they went in her stead, one going to inform her teammates of the situation, another going to her home to pack and inform her parents, and Okamizu reporting to the Hokage, back in her building.

"You're such a moron, Okozaki, Usagi is and always has been a kunoichi." The tri-eyed jounin muttered as the gay man accompanied him to the Hokage's office.

"The name 'Usagi' in my book, is male." The black-haired shinobi muttered back. "It doesn't help that the genjutsu makes Usagi out to be such a gorgeous male."

"Just…stay away from her…and my two other genin. I would prefer to have a restraining order against you, but you've proved to be a great comrade to fight along side with. Don't spoil it." Okamizu's hackles bristled as he drew upon the 'being-watched' sensation. "Be alert too, the Hokage might decide to throw things at us when we report this." With its double meaning, Okizaki's head nodded as he expanded his awareness in the dark streets. Being Jounin, Okozaki did not have a kekkai genkai to his name; he was just known to be gay.

Tonight was going to be a very long night for Okamizu. He sighed and twilight-dreamed of his bed – the one place he wanted to be at the moment, sleeping.


	30. Scroll 30

_**Scroll 30: Night Missions & Chocolate Dragons**_

Jino-sama coughed up her chocolate kunai as she rolled out of the Nothingness Box.

"DAMN Bastard KENTAROU! It's about time you let me out of there!" The brown-haired, size-C cupped woman struggled to her knees - in the dark. It was a great thing to be out of the void and into the night; as this apparently was now. She looked up to see stars in the black-purple sky. She had been caught up in Kentarou's Seal ritual and had no choice but to join him in his prison or let the two other Bastards get away.

"I HATE YOU WITH PASSION SO DARK, KEN-BAKA!" The leader of a group of elite ninjas hailing from the Village Hidden in the Dragon Wing – Ryutsubasagakure – slowly stood up and looked hatefully as that apprentice cook Skiminachi entered the glade.

Skiminachi looked down, his eyebrows widening in momentary surprise. He hadn't seen this woman in awhile, and if her language had been any indication, she'd been too close when Kentarou had activated the sealing ritual.

"So that's where you've been hiding. You're just in time, they were about to take off for a lengthy mission and if you hadn't gotten here sooner you would've been left alone, eh Jino? Come on, let's get you fixed up." he said, picking her up and putting her on his back. He'd noticed her struggling to her knees; so he had assumed she was exhausted or momentarily weak. "Joma might be happy to see you again come to think of it."

Standing a tall 7 foot solid; the brown-skinned woman made a show of dusting off her dark-brown ninja shirt and pants. Her outfit looked incredibly like the Konoha ANBU regulation uniform; only the under clothing was dark-brown instead of black and the armored vest and bracers were a chocolate-brown. Her kunai pack, a shade of black-green had the Dragon Village symbol: a thrice waved line with a smaller triangle on each tip. Being built like a weeping willow tree, the woman had no fat nor bulging muscles. No, her muscles were tightly coiled and packed.

It was natural for her; but might have been looked at as incredibly skinny. No bones showed, but neither did an average figure. The oddities that did show were her shimmering earth-green scales that speckled her face, limbs and digits. The scales weren't anything fancy or flashy; it was just thumbnail sized, inter-linking, and similar-to-fish-scales patches of skin.

"Kami damn it, Skim-san, what the hell is going on here? Last thing I can remember is coming into your village to haggle out a trading deal with that spawn of Wheels, Kentarou. I knew instantly that there was a fight, and leapt in to kick ass; but I ended up being sealed with those bastards of the Darkness and Twisted." The brown-skinned woman huffed her ruffled pride as the large cook slung her over his shoulder. "How the hell was I to know THAT series of events would happen?" The chocolate-wielding Master grumbled. "Kami knows how long it's been; the star placement here in the sky is all wrong."

"It has been about six months, Jino-san. And you weren't, none of us were. We'd barely gotten enough notice to get far enough away, I'd assumed you'd just gone in a different direction when Kentarou started the Sealing Jutsu." The two of them stood about the same height, but Skim's armor and natural bulkiness made him appear much larger than her. Though his usual nature made him more Santa-like than anything else. "Now that you're back, we'll get somebody to send off a message that you're alive and well. I'm guessing your hungry after all that time?" He smiled over his shoulder at her as he walked. The sound of voices could be heard as they approached; it appeared they would give the Leaf Shinobi another surprise.

"Hungry as a dragon; Chibi-Cook." Jino would laugh deeply as the green-tinted scales around her face rasped in joy. "Where the hell are we now, anyway? I don't see a sign of my home mountains nor any dragons. Rice-chan? Was she with you when I vanished?" The tall, brown-skinned woman looked up and around, hoping to find her partner. "I am so lost here, damn it, not good; not good at all."

Having been a Leader of her Village, the Ryuukage had the honors of working with a namesake dragon, Rice. The black and shimmering white dragon was the size of her head; with the power of a mountain. The lizard was young compared to other dragons, but it didn't matter since there would only ever be nine dragons in the world.

"You know, I have heard many people say that. I've seen a dragon eat before, and let me tell you that no one has been able to compare their appetite to dragons, not truly. We are near the village of the Leaf, in the nation of Fire, and you will soon be traveling with a few to the village of the Sand, in the nation of the Wind. And no, I do not know where Rice is. If you wish, I could help you find her? Don't worry Jino-san, you will get your bearings quickly enough." He smiled, pulling out a bag of jerky from under an armor plate and handing it to her. About that point, they walked back into the camp.

XXX

Almost as quietly as it had come, the feeling that he was being watched would slip away from Okamizu. James had decided on a less direct approach and eventually utilize his sibling Youy. They would visit him again, but for now they let things lie. He withdrew himself from a nearby wall and put on a rather normal appearance so as not to alarm others, and began to walk out of the village whistling all the while. This was probably the last time he would be here, at least he hoped. It was troublesome to move around in a place with so many powerful nin.

Meko watched from his hidden roof cranny as James walked freely about the village. Then, saying nothing, doing nothing, the cat promptly melted back into the shadows to start his journey home.

XXX

Baro looked down at Usagi as she went about her business. "What all is it that you need to do here? Will there be a problem with telling your parents where you're going?" His tone indicated it would be best for everybody's health if there wasn't a problem. No problem at all.

"No, of course not, Okamizu-sensei has it all covered. He sent one to pack my supplies, another to inform my family, and he himself is going to inform the Hokage of my mission." The black-haired girl pointedly avoided looking at Yukari as her cousin, the medic nin Hani and Kakashi were all ready to depart for the mission themselves.

"Did you and that med-chick kiss or something?" Usagi was good at picking up body language of females and Hani was continuously eyeing Barokendo with affection.

"No, we merely had a few drinks and talked. That was at the suggestions of Kentarou; whose voice I'd heard about the time the Takimoto women asked." he took a deep breath and looked up, as though at the stars themselves. "Much of me has been promised to others. So very, very much." And then his eyes hardened, getting the look that anybody that bothered him outside of Usagi would get attacked.

By this point, Gilligan had fallen asleep but had somehow melded her clothing into Kakashi's, making it so that the man would either have to strip, ruin his clothes, or carry around the previously broken-child.

Yukari had to help Wydra to her feet and secure the unicycle to the girl's back. The kunoichi mimicked her cousin, and ignored the other red-eyed girl. Naruto would kick her and Usagi's ass for acting like brats; and since thinking of the Bijuu-container, Yukari straightened up and nodded boldly to herself.

"What is…?" The question came as Kakashi looked haplessly at his student. The clinging girl was hanging off the jounin, making him once again support the bulk of the child with is arms.

"Gilligan, Off." Yukari blinked as the cloths stretched and pulled as the Teddy-bear wielding kid stuck to Kakashi.

Gilligan's eyes fluttered open, then widened in momentary shock, then she started crying again and wrapped her arms around Kakashi. Wydra stumbled to her feet, walked over to the pair of them, and began tickling Gilligan. Slowly, Gilligan began to unstick from Kakashi.

"He was like this for a few days after I met him. This is the least violent way to get him off." Wydra yawned, but kept on her feet.

Shozaku, seeing Skiminachi enter with a strange woman on his back, spoke up. "Okay, is everybody ready?"

"Oho! Well, wouldja look at that! A scarecrow, a teddy, a bird, a rabbit, a gambler, a wheel, an emo-less, a chick, a dog, a ninja, a sand-babe and a kid." Jino entered the darkened clearing and near-instantly visually analyzed the scene. Kakashi, Gilligan, Yukari, Usagi, Shozaku, Wydra, Barokendo, Hani, Reena, Joma, Yamira and Sheena all were greeted and memorized. "Would wants chocolate, I think the three squirts want chocolate!"

Doing eighteen insanely fast one-handed signs, the Ryuukage plucked the whole bag of jerky from Skiminachi's hands and another one from within his armor with her other hand. The flowing way she moved was impressive enough to make Kakashi lift his cloth barrier and watch with the Sharingan. Hani just stood open-mouthed as the extremely foreign woman entered at the same time that Okamizu's jounin team did.

The camp clearing was illuminated with torches as the jounin jammed temporary flame-sticks into the ground and lit brands to give light. They too, gaped as fish as they viewed the dark-skinned woman.

Jino, being tall, thin and lithe enough to be mistaken for a young willow tree, knelt down next to Wydra, Gilligan and Sheena; this of course would freak them out until those kiddy eyes would alight on the three six-inch statues of themselves – made completely from chocolate and chakra. The mini-statutes would mirror the movements of the children while they sat on Jino's hands. But the moment they were removed, the movement would cease and the statues would be reduced to edible treats.

"Allow me to introduce myself, Sharingan-User." It would seem that even the infamous Uchiha eyes were known by the far-hailing stranger. Jino did, after all, come from the same area from another far-flung piece of continent that Kentarou was. "I am Jino Ryuunaka, Ryuukage of Ryutsubasagakure: Village hidden in the Dragon Wing."

Usagi was stunned at the visual knock-out that had entered with the Cook-san. The lady had even identified her animal; the rabbit. The dragon-lady, as this woman had to be, was as tall as the Cook and looked dressed up in Konoha ANBU gear; only in hues of brown. Usagi only nodded absently as one of the jounin handed her the gear he had packed from her apartment.

Kakashi was the first to blush at the scaled-face woman, seconds passing before he recognized the symbol on her nin-head-band: one depicting the Dragon; a highly skilled and powerful clan of ninjas that were extremely talented and versed in all of the four chakra elements: earth, wind, fire and water. The way the foreign woman showed to be strong in all four as her chocolate creations required an exact measurement of each.

"Dang, why are you calling us by animals?" Yukari asked, her brain as clutched as Usagi's. "Has Skiminachi and Shozaku been hiding you!"

"If I had one of her, do you really think I would hide it? I mean, I've got a few secrets but none of them regarding women. I would've shown her off like a trophy…" Shozaku said with raised eyebrows at the woman's appearance. She was familiar to him but not very, so he looked to Skiminachi for clarification.

"Ah, she had been slowly making deals and treaties with Kentarou so that our villages may have been allies. You know how both forgetful and how slow Kentarou is about telling others these things. She had been trapped in a void for the past few months as a result of what Kentarou did, but for some reason she is now free. However blunt or foul mouthed she may get, she is good at heart and a valuable ally. I have even seen her fight a couple of times." The big man rattled on, looking around the clearing as he did so. The children were busy messily devouring the chocolate. Or rather, Gilligan was. Sheena watched Wydra eating it because, as one might be able to tell from the look on her face, she had never seen chocolate before. Not in that form that mirrored herself.

Barokendo blinked a few times, staring very curiously at Jino. Something about her, something in the way she looked or what she said, clicked in his mind and felt as though it was the key to a large secret, but had only budged the door open ever so slightly. He shook his head and continued to look around with his usual 'piss off' tone of eyes.

Yukari watching the children eat the chocolaty gift that the tall new-comer woman had seemingly pulled out of thin air with her different colored skin. Yukari wasn't a bigot, but she had never seen that color of skin before. More likely, it was the patches of snake-skin that drew the Konoha's interest. Standing there staring as the obviously Hokage-leveled woman ripped into the bags of jerky that she had filched from Skiminachi, Yukari flinched when Kakashi nudged her to get her attention.

"Huh?"

"It's time to move out, Yukari-chan." The jounin smiled lazily at her. "Usagi-san has her pack and is ready to join us for our mission."

"Oh, ok. I'm ready…" _and already overwhelmed by the mission's development._ Yukari mentally said to herself. A Dragon-nin? In Fire Country. This was as rare, if ever recorded, as a heat wave in Snow Country. Legends were made of Dragon ninjas; and they all hailed from far past the Wind Country's Southern deserts.

"Are you lost yet, bird-face?" Usagi's quip snapped Yukari out of her thoughts as her team was already moving away from the three, torch-bearing jounin.

"No, not as lost as your sense of smarts, rabbit-head."

Kakashi and Hani exhaled audibly as the two girls began again. Further away, Genma and Otou had already moved out; their direction heading towards the Water Country.

XXX

Wherever she was, Rice would hear a source-less voice, one that sounded very old and wise, talking into the area around her.

"Rice. The human you had allied yourself with has resurfaced into the human world from whichever void to which she had disappeared. Is it your wish to re-unite?"

"Risssse-chan sssaysss yess: I want to know where Jino-ssssama isss." The little dragon spoke with a hiss instead of a lisp. Those brown-silver eyes looked all about in wonder.

The source-less voice went on for a few moments with 'hmmm' as though in thought or some inner complication. but it spoke, the mental-issue resolved.

"It is…good I have spent time among these people, so rather than reprimand you; I advise against calling any body with 'sama'." as the voice continued to talk, a large pair of eyes appeared in the air before Rice, and at the end of its sentence, smoke fissured out of the ground and formed into a hand.

The smoke-hand quickly turned into the large and scaly hand of a dragon, before reaching out and tapping Rice on the head with the edge of its nail. Rice would get a vision of Jino, though from behind, and the area she was in. Moments later, she would get a sense of direction as to where she was, letting Rice know which way to go.

"Go. Know that I am ever-watching and that your actions may prove…very interesting, very…beneficial, for your future…" and like that, the hand was gone, the eyes closed and disappeared, and the voice was silent.

Rice's small nostrils emitted whisps of smoke as the small dragon snorted in glee. "Thankss sso very much." With that the dragon leapt up and flapped those gossamer leather wings and scuttled into the trees. Following the vision, the pre-dominantly white dragon saw the torchlight and zeroed in on that. Staying well hidden within the darkness-slathered tree branches, the beast wriggled closer and closer to see what and where it was.

"…" It said to Jino as the woman's elf-pink eyes met its own for an eternity of a second. Good, it had found the ninja, so it wasn't completely lost.

XXX

The four Wheel nin and Trydna moved away from the main group, waving as they went; Otou and Genma leading them towards the Water Country. They had already said their farewells, and had just been waiting for the 'move out' speech or signal of which Shozaku gave.

"Good, finally getting GOING now! Although I've spent a bit less time here than I have in other places; too much excitement in one place can get under your skin." he picked up his pack and started to walk off in the general direction of Sunagakure with the others.

Sheena, having eaten the chocolate and feeling a bit worn out from today, and the past few days, crawled up onto Barokendo's back. He grimaced for a moment, his lips curling up almost in a snarl, before he it slowly went back down. He went to a look of full on-rage though as Gilligan, and then Wydra, followed suit, positioning themselves on the spikes coming out of his coat and using the coat itself as a cushion. It seemed they planned to just use him like a carrier.

Joma, who'd barely registered most of the proceedings because he wanted to be asleep having been up the night before with guard duty, got up when Yamira poked him and told them to get a move along. The two of them grabbed their packs and began to walk off as well.

"KAKASHI! HATAKE KAKASHI!" A strange nin's voice could be heard shouting towards them and getting louder as it got closer. A nin with the Konoha headband moved up, smiling and waving. The hand he was waving with contained what looked to be a small folder of information.

The nin himself didn't have too many distinguishing features though. His suit was what would be normal for an ANBU, minus the mask. His hair was short and black, and his build wasn't alarming and didn't give any impression of just what his strength was. His skin, or rather his face as the rest of his skin was covered, may offset the rest of his blandness.

It was multi-colored, and not in human tones. Patches of his skin were blue, red, and green, yellow, black, it went on. The colors themselves shifted and moved across his face as though unable to settle in and give him a definite color or appearance. It was like a chameleon's skin; ever shifting in color. The ninja slowed to a stop as he got up to Kakashi.

"It is good I caught you when I did or I may have had to track you all down. This is a letter from Danzo-sama explaining everything, though it would be best read and viewed in private, another time when we are at camp. I apologize for my tardiness, but Danzo-sama had many instructions to give me and told me I would be away for awhile so I had to arrange for my sister to be cared for. Let us get going?" the pushy ninja turned and began walking with the rest of the group, a pack slung over his shoulder. None of the others made an issue of it because they assumed it was Kakashi's business. Barokendo was busy trying not to murder three children that had crawled onto him and stay near usagi.

Yukari watched as their Konoha group grew; first with Usagi, then the Chocolate-Dragon-scale lady, and finally this colorful-skinned ninja. Did the Hokage have an inkling of a clue of how this escort mission would turn bizarre.

Naruto would have most likely taken it with a grain of ramen-seasoning salt and grin his friendly grin and proceed to infect the team with his over-bearing positive attitude. So that is what Yukari would strive to keep in mind. Having had a wild day, she was tired mentally and socially. Being set to put up with a bitchy, 16-year old version of – OH BY THE GODS ABOVE, PLEASE DON'T LET MEIKO BE LIKE USAGI – Meiko, Yukari was going to have to grit and bear it.

The kunoichi saw that Usagi had inexplicably tied herself into the Wheel-Nin, she just didn't know how. The Uzaruki heiress just wanted to safely finish this mission and return home before Naruto did – whenever he was going to come back.

Hitching up her backpack, Yukari smiled slyly at Kakashi as she saw the color-skinned-nin enter and speak to the jounin. Then, watching as the Wheel nin boosted themselves up into the trees, the Okamizu jounin-friends doused the torches to assist in night-time eyes for the departing Ninja in mission with the Wheel until it was just her, Kakashi, the Color-nin, the cook and the just-now finished eating dragon lady. Yukari assumed that the lady would accompany the Cook now, since she was familiar with Skiminachi.

Nodding to Kakashi, Yukari pushed chakra into her feet and leapt into the now-solid darkness of the trees; following the lead that Hani had set. Kakashi, then the mysterious new-comer nodded before following.

There was a bark as Reena was mistakenly left behind. Yukari doubled back and picked the small puppy up before leaping back into the trees; this time aiming for the treetop to get one last look at a night-clad Konohagakure – which sparkled in the night with various torches and lamps that dotted the innards of the surrounding village wall. Looking across the notable distance to the Fourth Hokage's rocky face, she gave a Naruto-styled grin before lifting her fist hand and closing a fist to block the view; a promise to Naruto's look-alike elder that she would continue to grow stronger!


	31. Scroll 0

**Character List of Within Seven Years**

**In Order of Appearance: **

Wydra of the Wheel Village

Sheena Shan-chay of the Wheel

Gilligan of the Wheel

Genma Shiranui

Kakashi Hatake

Yukari Uzaruki

Hiro of Gingko-Tora Ramen Shack

Meko the cat, a Cat from the Neko Ninja Village

Tsunade, the Fifth Hokage

Naruto-chan/ Narruy-chan, Yukari's home-made Naruto-plushie

ANBU (six Anbu ninjas, nameless)

Sakura Haruno, Naruto's pink-haired team mate, of Team 7

Kaiko Hingo, Yukari's Thread-Weaver neighbor

Torto Hingo, Kaiko's husband

Shino Aburame, of Team 8

Kiba Inuzuka, of Team 8

Akamaru, Kiba's dog

Hinata Hyuuga, of Team 8

Kensuke Uzaruki, Yukari's older brother and first born of the Uzaruki Clan

Torika, Kensuke's personal Messenger Hawk

Shozaku of the Wheel

Chouji Akimichi, of Team 6

Teuchi of Ichiraku Ramen Shack

Ayame of Ichiraku Ramen Shack

Skiminachi of the Wheel

Konohamaru Sarutobi

Moegi Akimichi

Udon Yurimi

More ANBU (three Anbu ninjas, nameless)

Joma of the Wheel

Tonton, the pig

Shizune, Tsunade's friend and niece of Tsunade's dead lover

Sudokari Misaruki (flashback)

Maso Ankou (flashback)

Raikanami Uzaruki (flashback)

Yamira of the Sand

Four Chuunin ninja of the Wheel (Junie, Lilia, Marosai, Kerosai)

Trydna of the Wheel

Otou-sensei, undercover ANBU Agent

? of the Twisted Ninja

? of the Darkness Ninja

James of the Darkness Ninja

Clone-Yukari, a Kage Bunshin

Kage-Yukari, a Kage Bunshin

Two Medic Ninja, nameless

Haiko Minoka, a red-haired male chuunin

Kenchi Takamura, normal male chuunin

Barokendo of the Wheel

Tiger-Masked ANBU, Otou's ANBU self

Hunger Ninja, nameless part of a fairy-tale story

Minato Namikaze/Yondaime, (colored-picture story book style only)

Meiko Uzaruki, third daughter of the Uzaruki, second youngest

James's Eyeball, James's jutsu body effect

James of the Twisted Ninja

Five Twisted Ninja, nameless

Dream-Kyuubi, from Yukari's psyche

Troy of the Darkness Ninja

Curse-Affected Yukari, feathers included

Night ANBU, seven Night Anbu: Dog-mask, Jaguar-mask, Bird-mask 1, Bird-Mask 2, Turtle-mask, Swirl-Mask, and Leafed-Mask

? of the Twisted Ninja, name unknown, mother of James

Hibachi Uzaruki, Patriarch of the Uzaruki Clan, friend to the Hyuuga-Patriarch

Maisuke Kushina Uzaruki, mother of Yukari, Matriarch of the Uzaruki Clan

Mai Uzaruki, youngest of the Uzaruki Clan, looks like her mother

Hari, Yukari's Eagle

Inoichi Yamanaka

Jack Shan-chay of the Darkness Ninja

Jake Shan-chay of the Darkness Ninja

Jakk Shan-chay of the Darkness Ninja

Akadou ninjas, twelve male ninjas

Jeruo Akadou

Hisao Akadou

Three female eagles from the Eagle Clan

Six Medical Ninja, nameless

Hani Takimoto, Medic Nin Kunoichi

Hojio, Kensuke's landlord

Hana Inuzuka

Ten Inuzuka puppies

Gonta, Hana's dog

Reena, Sheena's dog

Four Konoha ninjas, nameless

Two ANBU, nameless

Tomoe Haru, a female chuunin

Aisoko Honda, a red-headed female chuunin

Curitsu, a medical kunoichi

Crystania Hyuuga Jokou, lowest child of the Hyuuga branch-clan, used for experiments

Pakkun, Kakashi's pug-tracker

Abisu Udynou, Ebisu's younger brother

Ebisu Udynou, Konohamaru's sensei

Kiri, a Messenger Hawk of Yukari's

Yuro Maso, Team 13, and Yukari's team-mate, recovers from coma

Nobu Takimoshi, a Jake-controlled Medical nin, male

Okamizu-sensei, brother to Otou

Drake Inikaze, part of team Ookami

Yusuki Kabamaru, part of team Ookami

Usagi Uzaruki, part of team Ookami, and cousin to Yukari Uzaruki, daughter of Junko Uzaruki and Kaiko Kushina

Bunny-Crow, a bird used by Okamizu-sensei to alert Yukari Uzaruki of Usagi's whereabouts

Jinn, a black rabbit that belongs to Usagi

Formless of the Darkness Ninja

Comic Crow, as seen in Naruto episode 101, Reveal Kakashi's face!

Rock Lee, of Team Gai

Gai Maito, Rock Lee's sensei

Tenten, of Team Gai

Neji Hyuuga, of Team Gai

Root ANBU, nameless

Danzo, the elder

Kentarou of the Wheel

?, Darkness Village Leader

?, Twisted Village Leader

Okozaki Hnyy, Konoha jounin

Jino Ryuunaka of the Dragon Wing, Ryuukage (Dragon Shadow)

Rice, the dragon

_**Volume 2 Characters:**_

Yachiru Kusajishi, Squad 11 vice captain from Bleach

Kenpachi Zaraki, Squad 11 captain from Bleach

Mewtwo, one of Kenpachi's pokemon

Usagi Tsukino, Sailor Moon

Giratina, one of Kenpachi's pokemon

Clefairy, one of Sailor Moon's pokemon

PALGIACEUS, one of Sailor Moon's pokemon, a fakemon

Ditto, one of Sailor Moon's pokemon

Charizard, one of Sailor Moon's pokemon

Luna, Sailor Moon's cat

Artemis, Sailor Venus's cat

Dugtrio, one of Sailor Moon's pokemon

Absol, one of Sailor XiN's pokemon, the strongest

Raikanami Uzaruki, eldest daughter to Hibachi Uzaruki, is a missing Nin

Naruto Uzumaki, main protagonist of the series

Jiraiya-sama, Toad Sage and world-renowned pervert

Honta, Raikanami's dog

Kankuro of the Sand

Seven Suna Ninja, nameless

Jiyu, a male Suna ninja

Manda, the Serpent

?, of the Twisted Ninja

Roxxannd, of the Twisted Ninja

Nami, Navigator of the Merry-Gou, One Piece

Sanji Blackleg, Cook of the Merry-Gou, One Piece

Dragonite, one of Nami's pokemon

Gaara of the Sand, current Kazekage

Baki, Gaara's sensei

Temari, Kunoichi of the Sand

Shikamaru Nara, a chuunin from Konoha

Tora Uzaruki, a Medical genius at age 12, and on loan from the Konohagakure to insure good relations in Sunagakure

Tai, Tora's personal hawk and eyes

Spades, a ninja used by Shozaku and comes from Shozaku's past

Jin-Quar, a traitor to the Hidden Dragon Wing Village, and a cliché ninja that craves power and gets it in an underhanded way, he proclaims himself as Ryuukage

Clubs, a playing-card using ninja from Shozaku's past; is out to seek revenge on Shozaku for killing his King of Spades; Clubs' harem include the red-headed girls known as Diamonds and Hearts. His sign is the King of Clubs, and before that, the Jack of Clubs.

Hearts; a red-headed kunoichi from distant lands, like Shozaku and Clubs, her sign is the Ace of Hearts.

Diamonds, a red-headed kunoichi from distant lands, like Clubs, Hearts and Shozaku, her sign is the Queen of Diamonds. She excels at medical jutsu, and is possibly more powerful in knowledge than Kabuto

Ideas: In my head, when Kentarou met Shozaku some years back, he talked him out of a lot of things, let him know what was going on elsewhere in the world, and further talked him into getting his help. As part of that, Shozaku's locked away a lot of his power. Spades was part of what was locked up, but in certain moments, Shozaku's imprisoned-power can escape, such as when he was in the desert with Yukari.

I'd already loosely thought of various things for the other suits(and some numbers), and the royal suites, but those are all/mostly spirits/summons. In his past, Shozaku had been steadily growing in power. He, along with help from his summons and a few of his sub-ordinates, was good at keeping things under wraps but at the point where Kentarou had met him the villages were starting to notice that a lot of the illegal/bad things that happened had a connection. He doesn't look the same now as he did then though, which helps him not-get caught

The king of spades and his king were also starting to grow in power and move in on Shozakus territory and various businesses. Shozaku didn't appreciate that, and after several failed attempts at negotiation (which mostly consisted of threats and demands that they back the fuck off_), Shozaku killed the king of spades. It was within the next week that he met Kentarou, and within the week after that he just disappeared, leaving most of his old empire and changing his appearance and personality in general. So it might've just taken them a really long time to figure out where Shozaku was/the new person he is, whatever their motivations for finding him.


End file.
